Harmful Contaminants Found In Florida Drinking Water: Study

TAMPA, FL — When people turn on their faucets to pour a glass of water they generally have an expectation that safety is assured. A new report released Wednesday, however, sheds light on utilities across the state of Florida that have harmful contaminants in their water that can cause cancer, developmental issues in children, complications in pregnancy and other serious health concerns.

Harmful contaminants were found in the water provided by hundreds of utilities across Florida, according to a report released by the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, an independent nonprofit organization that released a detailed account of the contaminants (see lists below).

“There are chemicals that have been linked to cancer, for example, that are found above health-based limits, or health guidelines, in the water of more than 250 million Americans,” said Nneka Leiba, director of Healthy Living Science at EWG.

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EWG, in conjunction with outside scientists, assessed health-based guidelines for hundreds of chemicals found in our water across the country and compared them to the legal limits. The law often permits utilities to allow these dangerous chemicals to pollute our waters.

“Legal is not safe,” said Leiba. “In many cases, it’s far from safe.”

The Environmental Protection Agency's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database collects compliance and enforcement-related information for drinking water utilities nationwide.

These are the locations across Florida that had the most recorded violations between January and March 2017, and their "violation points," which are based on largely violations of health-based drinking water standards, according to EWG:

• Lance Water, Lake City, 122
• Northgate Mobile Ranch, Mims, 85
• Strawberry Fields Mobile Home Park, Plant City, 80
• City of Winter Springs, Winter Springs, 55
• City of Apalachicola, Apalachicola, 55
• River Grove Mobile Home Village, Micco, 55
• High Springs Water Treatment Plant, High Springs, 45
• Camper’s Holiday, Brooksville, 43
• Cypress Bay Mobile Home Park, Fort Pierce, 31
• Marion Correctional Institution, Lowell, 31
• Lake Utility Services Inc. North, Clermont, 31
• Southern Comfort Mobile Home Park, Malabar, 30
• Fumch-Madison Youth Ranch, Pinetta, 27
• Magnolia Village, Edgewater, 26
• Wakulla Regional, Quincy, 26
• Treasure Cove, Leesburg, 26
• Oak Haven Retirement Village, St. Augustine, 26
• Boggy Creek Resort and RV Park, Kissimmee, 25
• Cross City Water Treatment Plant, Cross City, 25
• Whisper Creek RV Park, Labelle, 21
• Buttonwood Bay Mobile Home Park, Sebring, 21
• Country Walk Utilities, Lake Placid, 20
• City of Coleman, Coleman, 20
• Hidden Acres Estates, Lorida, 20
• Lake Utility Services Inc. South, Clermont, 20
• Lake Fairways Mobile Home Park, North Fort Myers, 20
• Taft Water Association, Orlando, 20
• Sun River Utilities, Punta Gorda, 20
• Morgan’s Mobile Home Park & Fish Camp, Fruitland Park, 17
• Riviera Beach Utility District, Riviera Beach, 13
• City of Dania Beach, Dania Beach, 11
• Martin County Utilities, Jensen Beach, 10
• City of Pembroke Pines, Pembroke Pines, 5
• City of St. Cloud, St. Cloud, 5
• City of Vero Beach, Vero Beach, 5
• Broward County Water and Wastewater Services, Lauderdale Lakes, 5
• Boynton Beach Water Treatment Plant, Boynton Beach, 4
• Tequesta WTP, Tequesta, 4
• City of Opa Locka, Opa Locka, 4
• City of Ocala, Ocala, 3
• Groveland Water Department, Groveland, 3
• City of North Miami, North Miami, 3
• Winter Garden Water Department, Winter Garden, 2
• Tavares Water Department, Tavares, 2
• FKAA J. Robert Dean Water Treatment Plant, Florida City, 2
• Minneola Water Department, Minneola, 2
• City of Sanford, Sanford, 2
• Venice Water Department, Venice, 2
• City of Winter Park, Winter Park, 2
• City of Holly Hill, Holly Hill, 2
• Northwest, Lakeland, 2
• St. Johns County Utilities, Ponte Vedra Beach, 2
• Village of Palm Springs, Palm Springs, 2
• City of Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills, 2
• City of Deerfield Beach, Deerfield Beach, 2
• North Miami Beach, North Miami Beach, 2

In Florida, EWG tracked 93 contaminants across the state’s water supply. The organization says the following contaminants were detected above health limits at different water departments across the state:

• Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) (linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues). Found above health guidelines at 1,405 utilities.
• Chromium (linked to cancer). Found above health guidelines at 306 utilities.
• Radium-226 (linked to cancer). Found above health guidelines at 739 utilities.
• Radium-228 (linked to cancer). Found above health guidelines at 359 utilities.
• Chlorate (linked to impaired thyroid function, which can be harmful during pregnancy and childhood). Found above health guidelines at 239 utilities.
• Arsenic (linked to cancer). Found above health guidelines at 571 utilities.
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFHPA) (linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, accelerated puberty, liver and immune system damage, and thyroid changes). Found above health guidelines at 15 utilities.
• Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) (linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, accelerated puberty, liver and immune system damage, and thyroid change). Found above health guidelines at 28 utilities.
• Uranium (linked to cancer). Found above health guidelines at 118 utilities.
• Strontium (linked to bone cancer and leukemia). Found above health guidelines at 33 utilities across the state.

These contaminants were detected above legal guidelines at water departments across the state, according to EWG:

• Trihalomethanes (linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues). Found above legal limits at 32 utilities.
• Haloacetic acids (linked to cancer and interference with fetal growth). Found above legal limits at 15 utilities.
• Thallium (linked to liver damage, central nervous system damage, hair loss, harm to the male reproductive system). Found above legal limits at two utilities.

Across the state, each of these contaminants was found at only one utility at levels above the legal limit: barium, antimony, nitrate, uranium, carbon tetrachloride and Di phthalate.

See also: Some Tampa Bay Towns Have Drinking Water Toxin Made Famous by Erin Brockovich, Study Finds

“There are more than 250 contaminants across our nation’s drinking water,” said Leiba. “About 160 of those are unregulated. And that’s a big concern, because if a chemical is unregulated, that means it can be present in our water at any level — and be legal.” Most of the water in the United States comes from local utilities that measure contaminants in their water supply, but this data can be difficult to obtain.

Contaminants in your water

EWG has released a public database cataloguing contaminants in water systems in every state in the country — the first comprehensive database of its kind that took two years to build. First select the state where you live, and you'll see state-level data. For more local information, enter your zip code.

After you enter your zip code, you'll be directed to a page showing the water utilities in your county. Select your town to see which contaminants put your families at risk.

No single group has collected all this information for all 50 states in an easily searchable database — until now. And it’s incredibly easy to use it to see what contaminants are coming through your faucet.

What You Can Do

Once people know about the high levels of dangerous contaminants lurking in their water, the question becomes what they can do to protect their health.

“There’s a way to reduce those levels simply by buying a water filter,” said Leiba.

“We don’t want to scare the population by saying there are 250 chemicals and just leaving it there,” she continued. “As a consumer you may look at it and get a little overwhelmed.”

For this reason, EWG provides a guide to buying water filters. Its website allows you to search for filters that block particular chemicals and pollutants. If you find that your local water supply has a particularly high level of a dangerous chemical, you can search for a filter that blocks that substance.

There are many types of filters, including carbon filters, deionization filters and distillation filters. Each type has its own strengths and weakness, so sometimes a filter will include multiple filtration methods to eliminate more potential threats.

To find the most effective filter, look for certifications from the Water Quality Association and NSF International. Different filters remove different contaminants.

It’s important to remember, though, that even high-quality filters are not 100 percent effective.

“Filters don’t remove everything,” Scott Meschke, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at Washington University, told Patch. He emphasized that it’s important to make sure you’re using a filter that is designed to fit your local needs.

He also said that users should change water filters on a regular basis. Old filters that are never replaced can host bacterial, which also pose potential dangers.

People who don’t get their water through a public utility will have different needs.

“If you are on a private well, I would say that you need to be monitoring your water. You should be paying on a regular basis to have it tested,” Meschke said.

With reporting by Cody Fenwick