Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

August’s Topic: Water Pollution

This week's module: 1. READ | 2. LISTEN | 3. ACT | 4. REFLECT

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Sorry, but we've gotta talk about perchlorate.

Hi everyone! Welcome to another week of the "Nivi tells you how crappy your drinking water is, literally" show.

Okay, seriously though, this week, after this sentence, I will NOT be talking about poop! Great news!

Buuuut unfortunately I will have to tell you that there are 85,000+ industrial chemicals used in the United States. Guess how many contaminants are restricted by law? (Keep reading if you dare...)

One of the chemicals in our water - and also, our food - is perchlorate. It's a dangerous ingredient in rocket fuel.

Today is the last Wednesday of August, AKA National Water Quality Month. It's only fitting that we wrap up this week's REFLECT module by looking at the big picture.

Everything you see today is found in this Politico article: What Broke the Safe Drinking Water Act?

Quick semi-related question: our mission is to make social impact easy for busy people. What tools/resources would make social impact easy for you that you wish you had? Please reply and get as imaginative as you want - I want to make your life easier!

Reply!

Probably don't read this if you're in a bad mood

I'm just going to rattle off some facts. Read the article if you have space for it in your head.

Read article

Perchlorate is dangerous. It "prevents the thyroid from absorbing iodine, which the gland needs to produce hormones that are critical for brain development"

Only California and Massachusetts limit the amount of perchlorate in drinking water. "The Environmental Protection Agency has so far found the chemical in 45 states, tainting water supplies of roughly 16 million Americans. It has been found in the bodies of every single American who has been tested for it."

Utilities companies don't have to let you know if perchlorate is in your tap water. A few things: vulnerable populations don't know to take steps to reduce their exposure. Also common household filters don't remove chemicals. ALSO bottled water is basically just tap water (we've learned this before in a previous edition), so you might be paying for perchlorate in your water. Since perchlorate is unregulated outside CA and MA, it doesn't have to be removed from bottled water.

The Safe Drinking Water Act says chemicals are assumed safe until proved otherwise. Yeah. Read it again.

0 new drinking water contaminants have been regulated in the past 20 years. Out of the 85,000+ chemicals I mentioned earlier, only 89 have EVER been restricted by federal regulation.

The Bush Administration's EPA also tested perchlorate on human subjects. The study had ethical and logistical concerns and only tracked effects over two weeks. Industry players have been exploiting scientific uncertainties in perchlorate studies as well, stalling the creation of regulation.

Yup, this was one of the most appalling articles I've read in a while. And in June 2020, the current administration's EPA decided that they would - surprise - still not regulate perchlorate.
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What now?
I usually don't include a list of actions in this REFLECT module - after all, that's what last week was for, but...
I've scoured 5 pages of Google to figure out what we can do about perchlorate in our own states and counties outside of CA and MA. (I'm in San Francisco, so I'm lucky right now.)
For the first time in recent memory, Google came up empty BUT here's what you can do:
- Test your water. It's about $200 and I'm emailing the team to see if we can get a discount. Reply if you're interested so I can pass on interest!
- Ask your city or county representative what they're planning to do about safe drinking water for you and your neighbors.
- Make a monthly donation to The Human Utility to pay someone's water bill. Despite all the chemicals, the US still has some of the safest tap water in the world. Many people still can't get water in their homes, so let's start there and see what we can do about the perchlorate problem.
I also found a list of perchlorate water filters. If you decide to start a non-profit to disburse these, I want to be the first to know!
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Changeletter

Is there rocket fuel in our drinking water?