Latest news with #NatalieExum
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas floodwaters can increase health risks that could last for months, experts say
Central Texas is continuing to recover from one of the deadliest floods in the state's history, which killed more than 120 people, many of whom were children. While there is an economic toll from floods due to the damage it causes to property, commerce and transportation, there is a risk to public health as well. Although rainwater is not harmful, flooding increases the risk of injury, illness and death. Heavy rainfall can cause waterways to overflow and overwhelm sewer and septic systems, environmental health experts told ABC News. FEMA maps underestimated risk in catastrophic Texas flood, data shows Floodwaters can be contaminated with debris, as well as high levels of bacteria, chemicals, waste and other pollutants, which can cause prolonged health risks, the experts said. Floodwaters can be "filled with lots of different pathogens that can get in from having lots of backed-up sewage, septic tanks that overflow," Natalie Exum, an assistant professor in the department of environmental health and engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News. "If you're in more rural, farm-based areas, there's just lots of fecal material from farm animals outside that can kind of wash into your home," she said. "So, it really serves as this potential stew of ways that these bacteria can get you." Contaminated floodwaters can cause more benign conditions like skin irritations. More serious conditions like infection can also occur if contaminated water enters small cuts or open wounds in the skin, and can progress to sepsis if left untreated. If contaminated floodwater is swallowed, or pollutes drinking water, this can lead to gastrointestinal illnesses such as stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. A 2023 study from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found that severe flooding was linked to an increased diarrhea risk among children. Quick-thinking officers rescued hundreds as Texas flooding began: 'Could have been so much worse,' police say There are long-term health impacts as well due to mold that can grow in houses and on surfaces, according to Kai Chen, an associate professor of epidemiology in the department of environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and faculty director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health. "Even months after the flood, what we see is there's increased risk for chronic illnesses such as heart disease, and there can be also, in fact, respiratory illnesses like pulmonary disorders," he told ABC News. "So, if you're breathing in this moldy air, it can induce these chronic conditions, respiratory illnesses." Chen said an analysis conducted with colleagues in 2023 found that, in the U.S., even as long as 12 months after the floods, there can be increased mortality from chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and respiratory illnesses. Although it's best to avoid floodwater when possible, Chen recommends taking precautions if you need to be near or in floodwater. "Wash your hands with soap and make sure you have safe drinking water," he said. "Even though you think, 'I just live nearby the flood. The flood water doesn't come into our neighborhood,' it could also contaminate the groundwater." Exum said people can call their county health department if they have a water well that they suspect may have been contaminated during the floods. Mosquitoes pose another risk as standing floodwater can serve as a breeding ground, which can lead to the harboring of diseases, such as West Nile virus. Exum said it's understandable that some people would want to enter their homes to remove the standing water and salvage their property, but added that it's important to take precautions. "If you do want to get into your home … put on some big rubber boots, put on some eye protection, put on gloves, wear long pants, and just recognize that even though it may look like it's just water, it actually could be a pretty meaningful risk for you," she said.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas floodwaters can increase health risks that could last for months, experts say
Central Texas is continuing to recover from one of the deadliest floods in the state's history, which killed more than 120 people, many of whom were children. While there is an economic toll from floods due to the damage it causes to property, commerce and transportation, there is a risk to public health as well. Although rainwater is not harmful, flooding increases the risk of injury, illness and death. Heavy rainfall can cause waterways to overflow and overwhelm sewer and septic systems, environmental health experts told ABC News. FEMA maps underestimated risk in catastrophic Texas flood, data shows Floodwaters can be contaminated with debris, as well as high levels of bacteria, chemicals, waste and other pollutants, which can cause prolonged health risks, the experts said. Floodwaters can be "filled with lots of different pathogens that can get in from having lots of backed-up sewage, septic tanks that overflow," Natalie Exum, an assistant professor in the department of environmental health and engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News. "If you're in more rural, farm-based areas, there's just lots of fecal material from farm animals outside that can kind of wash into your home," she said. "So, it really serves as this potential stew of ways that these bacteria can get you." Contaminated floodwaters can cause more benign conditions like skin irritations. More serious conditions like infection can also occur if contaminated water enters small cuts or open wounds in the skin, and can progress to sepsis if left untreated. If contaminated floodwater is swallowed, or pollutes drinking water, this can lead to gastrointestinal illnesses such as stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. A 2023 study from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found that severe flooding was linked to an increased diarrhea risk among children. Quick-thinking officers rescued hundreds as Texas flooding began: 'Could have been so much worse,' police say There are long-term health impacts as well due to mold that can grow in houses and on surfaces, according to Kai Chen, an associate professor of epidemiology in the department of environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and faculty director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health. "Even months after the flood, what we see is there's increased risk for chronic illnesses such as heart disease, and there can be also, in fact, respiratory illnesses like pulmonary disorders," he told ABC News. "So, if you're breathing in this moldy air, it can induce these chronic conditions, respiratory illnesses." Chen said an analysis conducted with colleagues in 2023 found that, in the U.S., even as long as 12 months after the floods, there can be increased mortality from chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and respiratory illnesses. Although it's best to avoid floodwater when possible, Chen recommends taking precautions if you need to be near or in floodwater. "Wash your hands with soap and make sure you have safe drinking water," he said. "Even though you think, 'I just live nearby the flood. The flood water doesn't come into our neighborhood,' it could also contaminate the groundwater." Exum said people can call their county health department if they have a water well that they suspect may have been contaminated during the floods. Mosquitoes pose another risk as standing floodwater can serve as a breeding ground, which can lead to the harboring of diseases, such as West Nile virus. Exum said it's understandable that some people would want to enter their homes to remove the standing water and salvage their property, but added that it's important to take precautions. "If you do want to get into your home … put on some big rubber boots, put on some eye protection, put on gloves, wear long pants, and just recognize that even though it may look like it's just water, it actually could be a pretty meaningful risk for you," she said.
Miami Herald
11-07-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
What's Contaminating Water Across All 50 States? Full List
Six contaminants found in drinking water across every U.S state exceeded legal guidelines set by the federal government, a study revealed. 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. Related Articles Owner Confused by Cat's Way of Drinking Water, Then She Realizes WhySadhguru Pinpoints America's Drinking Water ProblemsCalifornia Has a Drinking Water ProblemPregnant Women Issued Drinking Water Warning 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Baltimore Legionella samples sent late to lab, documents say
BALTIMORE — A public health expert said the city of Baltimore should commit to additional Legionella testing after documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun show that Legionella retest results from several city buildings, including City Hall, might be less reliable than previously thought. Legionella is a naturally occurring bacteria found in water that causes Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia that can be fatal. The city closed the buildings it found, or suspected, had Legionella contamination for treatment, but quickly reopened them during a burst of testing late last year. After treating the pipes with chlorine, the city retested several buildings, which showed little to no bacteria. But the retest samples were late to the lab, raising questions about whether the results were accurate. 'The levels they found initially were so high they should be re-testing (even after negative results) on a quarterly basis to know that the treatment was effective in the long term,' Natalie Exum, an assistant professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University, told The Sun in an email. Exum believed the initial results were high enough to warrant regular testing 'regardless of whether or not … they violated the laboratory protocol.' Symptoms for Legionnaires' disease include coughing, fever, headaches and muscle aches, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Symptoms can develop between two and 14 days after exposure. Older people, the immunocompromised and current or former smokers at greater risk, the CDC says. While the first round of tests showed bacteria levels up to hundreds of colony-forming units per milliliter — an amount a public health expert called unsafe — the retest results from the city buildings that came under scrutiny in December showed at most 0.5 colony-forming units per milliliter, the smallest amount detectable by the lab. However, those retest results carry a note from the lab saying they were received by analysts 'past holding time,' the amount of time that passes between the collection of a sample to when it is tested. The city collected and shipped the samples during the week of the Christmas holiday, which it offered as an explanation for the sample's tardiness. A 2020 study published in the scientific journal Microorganisms found 'a statistically significant reduction in Legionella counts after 48 hours,' though the study did note that the reduction in bacterial load was 'substantially less than the variability of sampling locations in a building.' It is unknown how long the cultures from the Baltimore buildings were held past holding time, though the test results said samples should be analyzed within two days. Experts contacted for this story said they could not speculate on what impact the wait time had on test results without knowing the lab's protocols. George Young, a certified Legionella water management plan consultant who works at Environmental Safety Technologies, a Legionella testing firm in Kentucky, told The Sun that samples received after 48 hours are unreliable and can give false negatives or false positives depending on the conditions inside the water. Typically, Young said he recommends additional testing for clients whose samples arrived late to the lab, to ascertain the reliability of the results. It is not clear if the buildings still have the bacteria present in their water supplies. Though potentially disquieting, public health expert Exum said she believes knowing about contamination means people and municipalities can protect themselves. 'Even if there's intermittent testing … I think it's unreasonable to expect that large building water systems are going to always be free of … pathogens,' Exum said. Though there is no federally mandated level of Legionella concentration that requires remediation, private nonprofit research and policy group founded by Abraham Lincoln, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, believe a level of 50 colony-forming units per milliliter is 'high enough to warrant serious concern and trigger remediation in a building water system.' Nine samples across four buildings in Baltimore registered a level higher than 50 colony-forming units per milliliter. 'Water quality in city buildings is guided by state and federal regulations. The city will continue to comply with those regulations fully, as well as go beyond what is required, to ensure the health and safety of city residents and employees,' John Riggin, a spokesman for the city's Department of General Services said. The samples were not too old for testing, Riggin said. 'The Department of General Services has no reason to question the validity of the results,' he said. 'Such a delay will not cause a negative result or disappearance of the bacteria.' Highly chlorinated water can kill off Legionella in samples that are too late, Young said, potentially causing a false negative. In a December email to The Sun, Baltimore Department of General Services said new water samples were taken from the two city circuit courthouses and People's district courthouse 'upon completion' of their chlorine treatments. It was unclear when samples were taken from the other buildings. The testing lab director at the time, Janet Stout, is 'a leading authority on Legionella,' Riggin told The Sun. She co-authored the study on hold times that appeared in the journal Microorganisms. Stout retired at the end of 2024, according to Special Pathogens Lab. She was not immediately reachable for comment. The lab declined to comment on the results from Baltimore City. Special Pathogens Lab and its parent company did not respond to a request to speak with its current lab director Friday. The city did not provide a water management plan when asked by The Sun; Riggin said the city plans to incorporate periodic testing as part of a water management plan, which will be implemented 'in the coming weeks.' On Dec. 30, the mayor's office promised the public 'the city will continue to conduct precautionary testing in city-owned facilities across Baltimore.' Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's office, as well as multiple state delegates and senators representing Baltimore City, did not respond to requests for comment. Five buildings were re-tested. They detected no Legionella growth in City Hall, the Abel Wolman Building and the E. Fayette Street district court. Even though the samples were received past holding time, the other buildings showed low levels of bacteria. The state began proactively testing for the bacteria as part of a new water quality testing regimen last fall, after which the city later followed suit. The aging infrastructure found across the city has been a point of concern at the state level, as 'many state-owned buildings are old and facing deteriorating maintenance issues,' the state said in a press release. Legionella is not specifically regulated in Maryland statutes, though it is listed as a reportable disease in the Code of Maryland Regulations. Building owners must inform tenants of outbreaks being investigated. 'We need to require vigilance of our facilities managers to … have healthy building water practices,' Exum said. It is easier and less expensive for building managers to test for the conditions that can promote Legionella growth rather than testing for the bacteria, Exum said. The city's legal department said on Jan. 17 that the department was 'working on a schedule for future water quality testing in buildings' and securing a 'long-term contract' with the testing and remediation company. The legal department said the general services department voluntarily notified tenants of the results though it was not required by law. ----------
