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Forever chemicals found in low levels in drinking water of Mississippi River towns

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Tests of drinking water from six public water systems along the Mississippi River show detectable levels of two types of industrial chemicals believed to harm human health, new results show.


The public water supplies of Burlington, Camanche, Davenport, Muscatine and Keokuk, as well as a mobile home park near Muscatine show the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) — two “forever chemicals” being tracked in tests by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources


None of the water systems had high enough concentration of the chemicals to cause health concerns, but the state will require quarterly testing of the sites to monitor changes, said Corey McCoid, water supply operations supervisor for the Iowa DNR.

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“Our authority comes in when it’s above the health advisory level” of 70 parts per trillion, McCoid said. “Then we would require people to be notified. At that level too, the federal government has funding available.”


The DNR is testing dozens of Iowa water supplies for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), a family of thousands of chemicals used in industrial processes since the 1940s. They are called “forever chemicals” because they linger in water, soil, animals and humans.


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has an advisory for PFOA and PFOS because — at concentrations above 70 parts per trillion — they have been shown to cause fetal developmental effects as well as cancer, liver damage, immune effects and thyroid effects.


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Earlier waves of DNR test results, released in December and January, found detectable levels of the two PFAS shown to have negative health effects in West Des Moines, Ames, Sioux City and Rock Valley. None of these water supplies had PFOA or PFOS levels above 70 parts per trillion.


Tests of drinking water in Iowa City and at the University of Iowa did not turn up detectable levels of those two chemicals. Cedar Rapids results are not yet available.


This week’s results are the first from Mississippi River towns, many of which draw their source water from the river. However, the two water systems with the highest levels of PFOA and PFOS draw their water from the ground or from alluvial wells on the banks of the Mississippi, McCoid said.


“Their results were a little higher than ones directly from the river,” he said.


The Kammerer Mobile Home Court, near Muscatine, showed PFOA at 18 parts per trillion and PFOS at 11 parts per trillion. Camanche, a city of about 4,300 in Clinton County, showed 6.6 parts per trillion of PFOA and 5.8 parts per trillion of PFOS.


The DNR is not testing private wells, which provide 10 percent of drinking water to Iowans and are largely unregulated, Iowa Public Radio reported.

 
@NorthernHawkeye
How is your rising star fixing this? Dirty, polluted water is not an isolated problem in Iowa. Which of Kim’s initiatives has done the most to improve water quality in Iowa?
Perhaps the type of testing that caught this and will monitor it going forward? I mean did you even read the article? They found the chemicals but they aren't at high enough levels to cause harm and they are monitoring it going forward
 
Perhaps the type of testing that caught this and will monitor it going forward? I mean did you even read the article? They found the chemicals but they aren't at high enough levels to cause harm and they are monitoring it going forward
What's your address? I'd like to send you a jug of our stinky, carcinogenic water. It isn't one article, and one test. We have poor water quality. There have even lots of threads about it, and lots of articles can be found about it.
 
We're talking about 5-6 parts per trillion here of a chemical IARC lists as "possibly carcinogenic to humans", the same as aloe vera and pickled vegetables.
The problem is that they are showing up in more and more places, and in higher and higher quantities. And, that's as we only begin to start testing.
 
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The problem is that they are showing up in more and more places, and in higher and higher quantities. And, that's as we only begin to start testing.
They're showing up more because testing is improving. They didn't have the ability to test at parts per trillion for quite some time. Long chain PFOS and PFOA hasn't been manufactured in the U.S. in quite sometime. What's there has probably been there for a long time.
 
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Tests of drinking water from six public water systems along the Mississippi River show detectable levels of two types of industrial chemicals believed to harm human health, new results show.


The public water supplies of Burlington, Camanche, Davenport, Muscatine and Keokuk, as well as a mobile home park near Muscatine show the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) — two “forever chemicals” being tracked in tests by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources


None of the water systems had high enough concentration of the chemicals to cause health concerns, but the state will require quarterly testing of the sites to monitor changes, said Corey McCoid, water supply operations supervisor for the Iowa DNR.

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“Our authority comes in when it’s above the health advisory level” of 70 parts per trillion, McCoid said. “Then we would require people to be notified. At that level too, the federal government has funding available.”


The DNR is testing dozens of Iowa water supplies for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), a family of thousands of chemicals used in industrial processes since the 1940s. They are called “forever chemicals” because they linger in water, soil, animals and humans.


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has an advisory for PFOA and PFOS because — at concentrations above 70 parts per trillion — they have been shown to cause fetal developmental effects as well as cancer, liver damage, immune effects and thyroid effects.


Daily News, Sports, and Opinion​


Newsletter Signup
checkmark-yellow.png
Delivered to your inbox everyday







Earlier waves of DNR test results, released in December and January, found detectable levels of the two PFAS shown to have negative health effects in West Des Moines, Ames, Sioux City and Rock Valley. None of these water supplies had PFOA or PFOS levels above 70 parts per trillion.


Tests of drinking water in Iowa City and at the University of Iowa did not turn up detectable levels of those two chemicals. Cedar Rapids results are not yet available.


This week’s results are the first from Mississippi River towns, many of which draw their source water from the river. However, the two water systems with the highest levels of PFOA and PFOS draw their water from the ground or from alluvial wells on the banks of the Mississippi, McCoid said.


“Their results were a little higher than ones directly from the river,” he said.


The Kammerer Mobile Home Court, near Muscatine, showed PFOA at 18 parts per trillion and PFOS at 11 parts per trillion. Camanche, a city of about 4,300 in Clinton County, showed 6.6 parts per trillion of PFOA and 5.8 parts per trillion of PFOS.


The DNR is not testing private wells, which provide 10 percent of drinking water to Iowans and are largely unregulated, Iowa Public Radio reported.

No problem. We'll just raise the permitted level of these chemicals.

They did that under Trump for several things. So much better for businesses than actually having to behave responsibly.
 
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What's your address? I'd like to send you a jug of our stinky, carcinogenic water. It isn't one article, and one test. We have poor water quality. There have even lots of threads about it, and lots of articles can be found about it.
Send it to your mom's house. When I get bored I go over there and let her entertain.me. sometimes work up a sweat and some of that water will come in handy.
 
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