This article is a brief review and summary of the estimated incremental risks (increases in hazard quotient or decreases in thyroid uptake of iodine) to pregnant women (and hence their fetuses) associated with perchlorate exposure in community water supplies (CWSs) . The analysis draws on the recent health effects review published in 2005 by the National Research Council (NRC) . We focus on the...

In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the LCR, which established that all community water systems (CWSs) and non-transient non-community water systems (NTNCWSs) would be subject to the rule requirements. The primary purpose of the LCR is to protect public health by minimizing lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) levels in drinking water. Pb and Cu enter drinking water mainly fr...

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005, floodwaters covering New Orleans were pumped into Lake Pontchartrain as part of rehabilitation process to make the city habitable again. The long term consequences of this environmentally critical decision were left to observation. This paper examines the likely response of Lake Pontchartrain to the load of contaminants that were po...

The new maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 microg/L for arsenic in the US drinking water will take effect on January 22, 2006. The compliance cost is estimated to be approximately dollar 600 million per year using current treatment technologies. This research aims to develop an innovative ion exchange process that may help water utilities comply with the new MCL in a more cost-effective mann...

The relationships between N fertilizer rate, yield, and NO3 leaching need to be quantified to develop soil and crop management practices that are economically and environmentally sustainable. From 1996 through 1999, we measured yield and NO3 loss from a subsurface drained field in central Iowa at three N fertilizer rates: a low (L) rate of 67 kg ha(-1) in 1996 and 57 kg ha(-1) in 1998, a medium...

Field evidence from underground storage tank sites where leaded gasoline leaked indicates the lead scavengers 1,2-dibromoethane (ethylene dibromide, or EDB) and 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) may be present in groundwater at levels that pose unacceptable risk. These compounds are seldom tested for at UST sites. Although dehalogenation of EDB and 1,2-DCA is well established, the effect of fuel hyd...

Nitrate (NO) is a major contaminant and threat to groundwater quality in Texas. High-NO groundwater used for irrigation and domestic purposes has serious environmental and health implications. The objective of this study was to evaluate spatio-temporal trends in groundwater NO concentrations in Texas on a county basis from 1960 to 2010 with special emphasis on the Texas Rolling Plains (TRP) usi...

Plastic piping made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and chlorinated PVC (CPVC), is being increasingly used for drinking water distribution lines. Given the formulation of the material from vinyl chloride (VC), there has been concern that the VC (a confirmed human carcinogen) can leach from the plastic piping into drinking water. PVC/CPVC pipe reactors in the laboratory and tap samples collected fr...

Antimony is a regulated contaminant that poses both acute and chronic health effects in drinking water. Previous reports suggest that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics used for water bottles in Europe and Canada leach antimony, but no studies on bottled water in the United States have previously been conducted. Nine commercially available bottled waters in the southwestern US (Arizona) ...