{"id":16384,"date":"2021-08-31T16:47:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T20:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/?p=16384"},"modified":"2022-01-20T19:47:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T00:47:17","slug":"more-communities-are-finding-toxic-chemicals-in-their-drinking-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/more-communities-are-finding-toxic-chemicals-in-their-drinking-water\/","title":{"rendered":"More communities are finding toxic chemicals in their drinking water"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_16385\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16385\" style=\"width: 364px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-third_column wp-image-16385\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image-364x243.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"364\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image-364x243.jpg 364w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1022\/PFAS-in-drinking-water-image.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 364px) 100vw, 364px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16385\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Because of the elevated levels of PFAS found in its public water sources, Wayland had been distributing bottled water to the public.<br \/>Image credit: Pat Greenhouse\/Boston Globe Staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since Massachusetts enacted a new drinking water standard last fall (a combined 20 parts per trillion for six PFAS compounds), many communities have found elevated PFAS levels in their drinking water. The state requires testing for water suppliers that provide water to more than 10,000 residents, and of the results available, twenty percent of water systems exceed the new standard. The number of communities in Massachusetts \u2013 and beyond \u2013 with elevated levels of PFAS has increased the concerns of scientists. \u201cIt is extremely concerning to see such a potent and persistent class of toxicants that are pervasive in drinking water remain unregulated at the federal level,\u201d said Dr. Elsie Sunderland, STEEP scientist and professor of environmental chemistry at Harvard University.<\/p>\n<p>State officials acknowledged that while most suppliers have found ways to reduce their PFAS levels \u2013 either by blending contaminated wells with others that have lower concentrations of the chemicals or by connecting to alternate sources \u2013 at least 21 suppliers have had no choice but to continue delivering the contaminated water to residents. Among the communities still delivering water with elevated PFAS levels are Acton, Ayer, Dudley, Easton, Holbrook, Natick, Randolph, and Wayland. The costs for improved infrastructure and installing filtration systems are vast, and far exceed the budget of these towns. Community leaders worry about the cost of permanent solutions and look to the state and federal agencies for support.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2021\/05\/23\/science\/more-communities-are-finding-toxic-chemicals-their-drinking-water\/\"><strong>Read full story<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since Massachusetts enacted a new drinking water standard last fall, many communities have found elevated PFAS levels in their drinking water which is raising concerns among municipal water suppliers regarding the cost for resolution. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1002,"featured_media":16385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16384"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16397,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16384\/revisions\/16397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/steep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}