Hormones from birth-control pills can travel through showers, toilets, and washing machines to local wastewater facilities. In his book, “Troubled Water,” activist Seth Siegel writes that birth-control pills add more than 10 million doses of synthetic estrogen to US wastewater every day. From there, the hormones could get discharged into […]
A newly updated database from the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) documents nearly 280 contaminants lurking in US drinking water. Two of the most prevalent and concerning chemicals, arsenic and hexavalent chromium, were found in drinking water in all 50 states. Both chemicals are known carcinogens commonly found in California […]
Orange County tap water is “as clean as water can be,” the activist Seth Siegel writes in his new book, “Troubled Water.” Things weren’t always that way: For decades, seawater was seeping into the community’s freshwater supply, threatening to expose residents to excess sodium in their taps. But in 2008, […]
Newark, New Jersey, has some of the highest levels of lead in drinking water in the country. For the last two years, tests have found elevated levels of lead in drinking water from the city’s Pequannock service line, which has corroding lead pipes. This month, the city began offering free […]
Our senses are valuable tool when looking for contaminants in drinking water. Water that’s safe to drink should ideally be clear with no odor or funny taste. If your tap water tastes metallic, smells fishy, or comes out cloudy, it could signal the presence of unsafe contaminants. Visit Business Insider’s […]
A study from the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found that contaminants in California drinking water could lead to nearly 15,500 cases of cancer among people who drink it for a lifetime. The study considered the cumulative effect of multiple contaminants in a water supply. The communities with the highest risk […]
Globehunters designed an infographic based on information from the Centres for Disease Control about where tourists should and shouldn’t drink tap water around the world. There are 187 countries where tourists should avoid tap water. It doesn’t necessarily mean that water in those places is unsafe – it means that […]
Erin Brockovich is a former legal clerk and clean-water advocate who was made famous by Julia Roberts’ Oscar-winning portrayal of her in the 2000 film that shares her name. Brockovich helped citizens of Hinkley, California, fight California Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) after unsafe levels of the carcinogen chromium-6 were […]
$100 billion for something that used to be free.
Nearly 780 million people worldwide do not have access to a source of clean water (water that flows through a household connection, borehole, well, or protected spring). In the US, 99.2% of the country has access to clean tap water, but many Americans chose to drink bottled water instead due […]
