What's Contaminating Water Across All 50 States? Full List
In the 50,000 water systems surveyed in the study by the Environmental Working Group (EWS) between 2021 and 2023, there were 324 contaminants found in drinking water-12 of which were found across all 50 states.
While in many states the contaminants were below the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s maximum contaminant level (MCL) guidelines, in some regions, the contaminants were higher, posing a risk to public health.
"Since the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 50 years ago, drinking water utility operators have been working day-in and day-out to meet the regulatory requirements, including testing and treating for over 90 contaminants regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act," the EPA told Newsweek.
"The large majority of water systems [over 90 percent of active public water systems] are meeting health-based standards, and are providing clean, safe drinking water to customers."
Of the 12 contaminants found by EWS, Newsweek has investigated the contaminants the EPA regulates-which does not include chlorate, manganese, molybdenum and vanadium.
Chromium was an identified contaminant the EPA does regulate across all states, but no water systems reviewed by EWS had levels higher than the EPA's current MCL.
While the EPA has an MCL for radioactive strontium-90, a metal that may cause bone cancer and leukemia, according to EWS, the element has a number of other isotopes that have not been given an MCL-the EWS did not specify which isotope was detected in all 50 states.
Arsenic is a natural element found in soils, sediments and groundwater that can feed into water systems.
The EWS found that for 481,000 Americans across 29 states, levels of arsenic in drinking water exceeded the legal limit.
Utility services in California, New Mexico, Michigan and Texas had some of the highest levels of arsenic in drinking water that were significantly above the EPA's MCL of 10 micrograms per liter.
Other studies have highlighted the risk of arsenic in drinking water at levels even below the EPA's maximum contaminant level, finding that even very low levels of arsenic exposure had impacts on birth outcomes, such as low birth weight and preterm births.
About 7.6 percent of American water systems have levels of arsenic that exceed the EPA's MCL, while other states have implemented their own reduced MCLs, like New Hampshire and New Jersey, Vasilis Vasiliou, chair and professor of environmental health sciences at Yale School of Public Health, told Newsweek.
He added that arsenic is a "known carcinogen," according to an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report, and is also "linked to cardiovascular disease and developmental neurotoxicity."
Arsenic is also "difficult to remove from drinking water," Natalie Exum, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Newsweek.
It is a "struggle, especially for small community water systems, to remain in compliance with the MCL or rural communities that are on private wells and not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act," she added. That means many low-income, rural communities are "exposed to unsafe levels," Exum said.
Barium, a mineral found in rocks, soil and water, can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension in high concentrations, EWS said.
Per EWS' findings, 298 Americans-most of whom were in New York and Pennsylvania-are being exposed to levels of barium in drinking water that surpassed the EPA's maximum contaminant level of 2,000 micrograms per liter.
The issue of fluoride in drinking water has been widely debated in the U.S., and recently a number of states like Utah and Florida have banned it from water systems.
It was originally added to water systems to combat tooth decay but more recently has been scrutinized by critics citing studies that elevated exposure could reduce IQ levels in children.
As a result of the new research on its possible impacts, "this MCL is in need of revision and water supplies need to be routinely tested for natural sources of fluoride," Vasiliou said. "Private well owners need to test for fluoride as well."
The EPA's current MCL for the compound is 4,000 micrograms per liter, and according to EWS, more than 18,000 Americans are drinking water with levels higher than that, with one water utility in California having levels of 12,000 micrograms per liter on average.
Haloacetic acids are formed when disinfectants such as chlorine are added to tap water, EWS reported. Long-term exposure to high levels of the acids has been linked to cancer and birth defects, according to the water filtration company Spring Well Water.
The EPA's MCL for haloacetic acids in drinking water is 60 micrograms per liter, and according to EWS, almost 400,000 Americans are drinking water with levels higher than that, with water utilities in Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana, Alaska, Oklahoma and Washington all having levels higher than 100 micrograms per liter.
Radium, a radioactive element that can naturally occur in groundwater, but may also be elevated by oil and gas extraction activities, was found in water systems across all 50 states.
The EWS reported that it may cause bone and other cancers, and that more than 100,000 Americans were drinking water with levels of radium higher than the EPA MCL of 5 picoCuries per liter.
In water utilities in Texas and Colorado, levels of radium were found well above even double the EPA's limit.
Vasiliou said that radium tends to be found mostly in smaller and more rural water systems, and that testing in rural systems and private wells should be "prioritized."
Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) are formed in drinking water during the water treatment process and are a human carcinogen, EWS said.
While the EPA's MCL of TTHMs is 80 micrograms per liter, more than 400,000 Americans are drinking water that exceeds the legal limit, according to EWS, with highest elevated levels found across Louisiana, Florida, Texas and California.
Vasiliou said that TTHMs are "detected in nearly all public water supplies," and are "associated with bladder cancer, liver and kidney toxicity, and potential developmental harm."
"We do not do a good job of protecting our source waters in the U.S.," Exum said. "We have allowed industries to dispose of waste in the environment that has permanently contaminated drinking water sources."
She said most of the chemical contaminants in the EWG Tap Water Database are measured at the treatment plant, meaning that "your water has a long journey to make through a lot of pipes underground before it gets to your tap."
"Given our aging drinking water in the U.S., this allows for contamination that often goes unmeasured, especially lead," she said.
For that reason, Exum recommended water filters that are NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for those in urban communities especially to reduce "health-related contaminants in drinking water."
Susan Richardson, a professor of chemistry at University of South Carolina, told Newsweek: "I personally would be mostly concerned about arsenic, and disinfection by-products like haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes.
"There are many epidemiologic studies showing documented human health effects for these, and many of these can cause cancer."
She added that she would recommend using water filters if levels "exceed regulatory or guideline limits" for contaminants.
"If levels are close to the limits, women who are pregnant or other people who are immunocompromised might want to take extra precautions and use a water filter," Richardson said. "But, for sure you don't need to use one everywhere."
Exum also warned that there is some concern that the current MCL for nitrate, a contaminant found in 49 states, according to EWS data, "does not fully protect against the risk of cancer and harm to the developing fetus," adding she thought the MCL "should be re-examined now that so many communities in the U.S. are exposed as meaningful levels."
Despite calls for the EPA to change its MCL for a number of contaminants in U.S. drinking water, as the EPA previously explained to Newsweek, it's not that simple.
"There is legitimate debate about whether the financial costs, inconvenience and health concerns of bottled water and filters are really an improvement over publicly supplied tap water," said Marc Edwards, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech.
He pointed to a United Nations University report that documented many instances in which bottled water was found to be contaminated with plastics and even worse contaminants.
He added that he would not read the EWS report and "come away with increased distrust of my tap water, unless the levels are above or are at least close to federal standards."
In those cases where levels are elevated, "filters and bottled water should be strongly considered," Edwards said.
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