Evaluating the safety of public tap water By EPN Staff Drinking water across the United States contains hundreds of chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive substances, often at levels researchers don’t consider safe, according to the Environmental Working Group, which recently updated its database of local water system tests. “The state of American drinking water continues to be perilous, and the need for stricter regulation remains,” the independent nonprofit group said in its State of American Drinking Water report. Among the common chemicals found: Arsenic, Hexavalent chromium, disinfectants, radiological contaminants and PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” that don’t break down and have been found in people’s blood and brains. The EWG recommended that people research and purchase water filters. Why it matters In the past 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has set one new maximum contaminant limit for hazardous chemicals in tap water, EWG said, targeting six of the thousands of known PFAS compounds. Most other federal drinking water rules “have remained unchanged since the 1990s,” EWG said, though 11 states have their own PFAS standards. Polling shows Americans are worried: In 2022 EWG released a survey where about half of respondents expressed doubts about their water. “Their concerns are well founded,” the group said. Yes, but While not replying directly to the EWG report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says public tap water in the U.S. is “usually safe to drink.” And most public drinking water supplies in the U.S. are regarded as among the safest in the world, given the extensive testing and regulation imposed on public water systems, according to experts. The bigger picture EWG’s database analysis includes water testing results from nearly 50,000 water systems, with samples collected between 2021 and 2023. The analysis identified 324 contaminants, with almost all water systems having detectable contaminants, the group said. People can look up their areas’ results by inputting their zip code. Additional context Some modern chemicals aren’t regulated by the government, and existing Environmental Protection Agency regulations don’t take into account how contaminants interact with each other. “A major flaw in current water safety regulations is the EPA's approach to assessing health risks from individual contaminants, rather than considering the cumulative impact of multiple pollutants,” EWG said. “This method doesn’t reflect real-world exposure, where people are often drinking water contaminated with a mixture of harmful substances.”
