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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Bush Administration Opens Door to Weaker Arsenic Protections |
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by Sierra Club
(No verified email address) |
19 Apr 2001
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WASHINGTON - April 18 - The Sierra Club today sharply criticized the Bush Administration for rejecting decades of scientific study on the dangers of drinking arsenic and reopening the discussion about how much cancer-causing poison Americans should drink. |
"By ignoring decades of study and considering doubling the amount of arsenic allowed in our water, President Bush is making an unsafe, irresponsible decision that pleases the mining industry at our families' expense," said Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's Executive Director. "If President Bush hadn't caved to the mining industry, we would be on the road to protecting Americans at the standard recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1962. But instead, President Bush's proposal could double Americans'cancer risk from arsenic in their drinking water.
"It couldn't be more simple -- Americans don't want their families drinking arsenic, but under President Bush's proposal, Americans could drink twice as much arsenic as the World Health Organization recommends for third-world countries," Pope continued. "There's no new news in this and no good news in this. President Bush is demanding more delay, continued consideration of unsafe arsenic levels in our drinking water, and more scientific study of an issue that's been exhaustively examined for decades. This leaves communities and everyone concerned about safe drinking water uncertain about whether their water will be safe enough to drink when President Bush is finally done."
Before the Clinton EPA strengthened drinking water standards, those levels were set at 50 parts per billion (ppb), based on 1942 data. Then, in January, the EPA lowered allowable levels to 10 ppb, at which level the cancer risk is one additional cancer case for every 500 people. But at 20 ppb -- the upper level being considered by the Bush Administration -- the cancer risk increases to 1 per 250 people. (The Safe Drinking Water Act usually only allows cancer risks of one case per 10,000 people.)
According to the National Academy of Sciences, long-term exposure to low concentrations of arsenic in drinking water can lead to skin, bladder, lung and prostate cancer. Non-cancer effects of ingesting arsenic at low levels include cardiovascular disease diabetes, and anemia, as well as reproductive, developmental, immunological and neurological effects.
When U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman served as New Jersey's Governor, the state's Department of Environmental Protection recommended that homeowners whose water supply contained arsenic at half the level set by the Clinton Administration take steps to reduce their exposure to the poison. ("DEP Urges Testing for Arsenic in Wells; Wants N.J. to Meet Proposed EPA Standard," Bergen Record, June 3, 2000)
U.S. GOVERNMENT ARSENIC SAFETY TIMELINE:
1942 -- Public Health Service (PHS) conducts arsenic study. This is the science on which our current 50 parts per billion standard is based.
1962 -- PHS recommends lowering arsenic levels in drinking water to 10 ppb.
1974 -- In Safe Drinking Water Act, Congress requires EPA to propose new arsenic standards. Deadlines are missed.
1975 -- U.S. EPA sets 50 ppb standard as an "interim" measure, promising to revise the standard promptly based on modern science.
1986 -- In Safe Drinking Water Act, Congress requires EPA to propose new arsenic standards. Deadlines are missed.
1996 -- In Safe Drinking Water Act amendments, Congress requires EPA to propose a new arsenic standard by Jan. 2000 and finalize it by Jan. 2001.
1999 -- National Academy of Sciences recommends revising the standard downward "as promptly as possible."
Jan. 2001 -- After decades of regulatory development, public comment, debate, millions of dollars in EPA research, and at least three missed statutory deadlines (in the 1974, 1986, and 1996 Safe Drinking Water Acts), the EPA finally issued the new 10 parts per billion standard, matching the level set previously by the World Health Organization and the level recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1962.
March 2001 -- President Bush rejects the arsenic safety standards. |
See also:
http://www.sierraclub.org
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