Unwell: The Public Health Implications of Unregulated Drinking Water

PDF Version (1.5 MB) About This Article Published: 1 November 2017 Note to readers with disabilities: EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact ehponline@niehs.nih.gov. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.  Related EHP Article Strategies to Improve Private-Well Water Quality: A North Carolina Perspective Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, and Kelsey J. Pieper Roughly one in seven U.S. residents relies on a private well for drinking water.1 Unlike the rest of the population served by the nation’s many public water systems,2 these 44.5 million Americans are not protected by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act,3 which regulates 87 biological and chemical contaminants.4 This has significant implications for public health, according to the authors of a new review in Environmental Health Perspectives,5 and although solutions exist for ensuring that well water is safe to drink, it is unclear how and whether they can be implemented. At best, private wells receive minimal oversight from local and state authorities, such as limited testing upon installation and, in some states, when properties change hands, write authors Jacqueline MacDonal...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Science Selection Source Type: research