Think Before You Drink...Water

Do you have any idea what's in your drinking water? Or what to do about it?

If you think so, better check your story against the latest findings of an alarming new study by the U.S. Geological Survey whose teams have been testing the drinking water intakes of urban water systems across the U.S. You won't be feel so good about turning on your tap water when you find out.

What USGS has discovered is a new wave of chemical compounds that scientists describe as raising disturbing new risks for human health. If you really want to learn about these new dangers, take a look at the video of "Poisoned Waters," which is running live on the PBS Frontline web page: www.pbs.org/frontline/poisonedwaters.

But for a quick gist of what's to come, listen to this. The evidence is that today's growing environmental threat to America's waterways comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumer products - face creams, toothpaste, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into drinking water.

The U.S. Geological Survey has gone coast to coast, documenting these new contaminants, known as endocrine disrupters because they disrupt the way the body's systems work, in the source waters for urban drinking water systems.

USGS scientists like Vicki Blazer report that endocrine disrupters are causing mass fish kills, male fish with female eggs in their gonads, frogs with six legs and other weird mutations. To public health specialists like Dr. Robert Lawrence of Johns Hopkins University, these mutations are "the modern canary in the mine that we haven't been paying enough attention to."

Millions of people, asserts Lawrence, are being exposed to endocrine disruptors from environmental waters "and we don't know precisely how many of them are going to develop premature breast cancer, going to have problems with reproduction, going to have all kinds of congenital anomalies of the male genitalia - things that are happening at a broad low level so that they don't raise the alarm in the general public."

"We can show that people with higher levels of some of these chemicals may have a higher incidence" of disease and such harmful effects such as lower male sperm count, adds Linda Birnbaum, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "In most cases, we don't know what the safe levels are."

Using Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound as case studies, the PBS program "Poisoned Waters" examines how these emerging pollutants along with old industrial contaminants like PCBs and mercury, and manure runoff from concentrated hog, cattle and chicken growing farms, have kept America's waterways in great peril and are exposing humans to rising health risks.

Some scientists argue that America needs to change its strategy and its laws. Instead of waiting for science to prove chemicals are dangerous, they say, industry should have to prove they are safe, before using them. Think about that the next time you turn on your tap.

Hedrick Smith is Correspondent and Senior Producer for "Poisoned Waters," showing on PBS Frontline April 21, at 9 pm.

Comments

[Rickevans033050]

"face creams, toothpaste, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners"

Hmm. If these are all a threat at ppb levels doesn't the report suggest not using them at
their fully concentrated levels? I doubt many are ready to stop brushing teeth, go to work
au-naturel smelling like a chicken farm, not take their blood pressure meds or wash their
clothing without detergent. And for all the smug Poland Spring swillers: are you sure the great landscape litterer is testing for all these molecules in their source water?

The real naive question is will lawmakers anywhere have the guts to finally regulate big Ag. Naaahhhh

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

People don;t need to stop brushing their teeth or using deodorants. We could do what the Europeans do. they block potentially harmful chemicals from being used in consumer products until industry has proven that they are safe for humans to use. That's the opposite of our system. we wait until the product has been put on the market and then have scientists track their harmful effects. To calcualte the lifetime impact of these chemicals takes 20-30-40 years. BY that time, the damage is done. SO why not go to the protective European standard? It looks like the new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is starting to move in that direciton.
Hedrick

[rockyersocksoff]

Only Obama-loving socialists need clean water.

REAL Americans know it's our capitalist/patriotic duty to shut up and drink water rich in pollutants, fertilizer, and chicken poo.

[GDabelko]

It is terrific that a journalist with Hedrick Smith's experience and breadth in reporting is taking on water issues in such a serious fashion. It is hopefully a sign of reaching a broader audience as well as going deeper down on water. Water does connect to so many areas of economic, social, cultural, ecosystem, and political activity. Smith is setting a good example for other journalists who have largely missed this story.

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

Well, one serious problem is that environmental reporters have become an endangered species and so Americans are not getting the kind of in-depth coverage of environmental isues that we need. that make sit all the more important that a high quality progrma like PBS Frontline is willing to devote two hours to POISONED WATERS. and once you do the rpeorting, yoku cannot help becoming alarmed not only by the deterioraitng quality of our water, but also the public's lack of knowledge and indifference to the issue. time to wake up.
Hedrick

[lizzen]

When you consider that the number one source of pollution in many of our rivers and lakes is storm runoff, you realize that cleaning up the water begins at home. More and more communities are encouraging homeowners and developers to build rain gardens. These gardens cleanse pollutants from the runoff from our yards, drives, rooftops, streets. Ecologically designed gardens offer an effective--and beautiful--way of restoring our waterways.

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

Right on, and there's a whole movement called LID - Low Impact development, which means building homes and housing developments for low impact on the environment. Creating driveways and sidewalks out of porous surfaces so that rainwater hits them and sinks into the gorund instead of running off with all kinds of pollutants into the nearest strom drain, down to the stream to the river and out to the lake, Bay or SOund. It means creating cuts in curbs so that the rainwater running down streets can "leak back: into grass and planted areas between sidewalks and streets. It means building houses that are eco friendly with roofgarden and downspouts that go down into the gorund, and many more features. Office buildings that are LEAD certified, meaning lower energy use, better stormwater treatment. There's lots that can be done and is being done in some places.
Hedrick

[quidam56]

Appalachia has been bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world status. Horrifying health care is acceptable. It's a shame what GREED is doing to U.S. www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138 Hannity can say all he wants about Bush keeping America safe from another terrorist attack. HELL what they are doing here is toxic terrorism. O'Reilly was talking about our mountains a while back, he thinks these 300 million year old mountains are still "pristine". Our watershed is being poisoned with toxic metals and disease but that's acceptable too...

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

That's a cool term "toxic terrorism" - except for one thing, the terrorists set out to kill, and most of the time US industry is not out to kill, but it causes damage to humans out of ignorance, the ignorance of the polluters and the ignorance of the public. Smart, solid information is the best cleanser, but it takes public engagement on these issues to force change inc roproatee and governmental behavior. We ahve severals tories in POISONED WATERS showing that local people, local communications, local civic groups can do to block environmental threats or force environmental cleanups by getting active. These people are inspiring and instructive. Take a look. wwwpbs.org/frontline/poisonedwaters or write Frontline and urge them to to run the progrma again
Hedrick
hedrick

[racetoinfinity]

From your post: "Instead of waiting for science to prove chemicals are dangerous, they say, industry should have to prove they are safe, before using them. Think about that the next time you turn on your tap."

This should have been done in the 70s, but Big Business's short-term profits trump public health (almost) every time - it's time for new transformations of economics and politics that prioritize the planet's and the people's health.

I'm looking forward to the "Frontline" special, and thank you for doing it.

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

I hope you saw POSIONED WATERS and I'm eager to hear our feedback, either here oor on facebook "Poisoned Waters" site . Tell me what hit your the hardest or surprised you the most or worried you the most.
all the best
' Hedrick

[FearlessFreep]

I liked your book THE RUSSIANS.

[Hedrick Smith - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry to take awhile tog et back to you, but if you liked that kind of reporting, you are going to appreciate the new Frontline program POISONED WATERS. It's down to earth, good storytelling. vidic photogrpahy, and unvarnished reporting about the environment. So take a look at our web page, www.hedricksmith.com. learn a bit more and get back tome.
All the best
Hedrick