Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. Oil-field frac water has now been used to grow Bermuda grass. Recycled wastewater, as a broad class, is being converted to drinking water as well as water for irrigating crops consumed raw. Some crop plants can bioaccumulate toxins and pathogens. The water quality standards, if they exist, vary. The lab tests may or may not reflect reality. This variation in the background would seem to raise questions as to the prudence of its use in certain instances. Is the water safe or is it just technically legal? If the former-----well and good, but if the latter?
At the 2006 at the Environmental Law Conference in Yosemite, various papers were delivered. Session # 27 was to contain some interesting insight into an area known as "non-action by regulators". One of the session's papers was on pharmaceuticals in groundwater. Of particular interest was a paper undertaking the analysis of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Its author, one of the US/EPA drinking water toxicologists finished his delivered paper with the following: “Bottom line on almost all of the “emerging” contaminants that have attracted attention: It will be a long time, if ever, before they are regulated under the SDWA.” But, that was an issue raised about the SDWA. What about other standards?
Are the standards failing to keep up with the input of emerging contaminants? EPA, per TSCA, estimated an addition of somewhere between 500 and 600 new chemicals per year. What might be the range of potential impacts to the human metabolic processes? What percentage enter the aquatic resource base? Who is following this and are those impacts growing or are we just better able to measure them? Does the regulatory community really know? What are the costs to know, and conversely, to not know? Are these questions warranting an answer? These are some questions that come to mind.
To look at this general policy area, I'd like to single out just one of the many metabolic systems that might be affected by uncontrolled emerging contaminants. Of interest because of its critical metabolic functions I will want to briefly look at the mitochondria as a point of discussion.
I tried to print your large paper, but that failed. Can you send a printable form?
Dr Edo McGowam
No, I am not. I am working on the Geophysical study of Aquifer vulnerability to pollution in Ado Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria
The data you gather would also be of interest to me as the local government is contemplating recharge of our underlying aquifer with recycled wastewater
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