Pollution and waste management are critical issues that arise due to rapid urbanization across the world. Specifically, pollution and waste management are important as they reduce the negative impacts associated with waste to humans, animals, and the general ecological system. Among the common adverse impacts of pollution are diseases, death of aquatic life, and destruction of plants. Water pollution is common as waste products are released from the industries into water bodies like lakes, oceans, and rivers. Considering that water bodies are the primary source of the water used domestically, water pollution poses a massive risk to the health of people and animals (Boelee et al., 2019). The perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFASs) substances are among the largest water polluters in the United States. PFASs have been common in drinking water regardless of their association with several types of cancers and other health complications. The environmental agency in the US established an act regarding the generation of safe drinking water (SDWA) in response to the PEASs about drinkable water across the US.
SDWA regulates the Public Drinking Water Supplies (PWSs) to ensure that the water consumed by the American population is safe from toxic chemicals such as PFOA. SDWA was evaluated grounded on the Assessment Program passed by the legislature in 1993 and its efficiency in PFOA identification and regulation to ascertain that the water drank by Americans is safe and free from contaminants. Furthermore, SDWA was evaluated on its ability to provide safe and clean drinkable water in all areas in the US.
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PFASs in drinking water have affected Americans in more than 33 states. According to Cordner et al. (2019), PFASs were identified in the drinkable water of approximately sixteen million people across 33 states. The PFASs found in drinking water contain more than 4730 chemicals and polymers applied in the industrial production of consumer goods (Cordner et al., 2019). Approximately 25 communities in the United States have had contaminated drinking water with manufacturing or industrial wastes with PFASs. Besides, Cordner et al. (2019) assert that the US defense department has acknowledged that approximately 401 military locations, either current or former, have water contaminated with PFASs. PFASs in drinking water pose a threat to people across the US due to their adverse effects on health. A lawsuit filed by DuPont found that more than 69 000 individuals from Mid-Ohio had been diagnosed will conditions such as kidney cancer, high cholesterols, and thyroid illnesses as they drunk water polluted with PFOA for more than one year (Cordner et al., 2019). PFASs in drinking water is also linked to declining response to vaccines, liver diseases, and low birth weight.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
SDWA was initiated to aid environmental agencies in testing requirements and qualities to be used by the supplier of drinkable water in the US. SDWA regulates chemicals, biological and radiological pollutants present in the drinkable water supplied to American households (Cordner et al., 2019). The guidelines established by EPA under SDWA include the maximal contaminant level goal (MCLG), which stipulates the acceptable minimum standard of pollutants in the drinkable water. The drinkable water should have no severe health impacts if it satisfies the maximum contaminant level (MCL) (Cordner et al., 2019). Though the environmental agency under SDWA has not enacted a specific Maximum Contaminant Level for most PFASs, it develops health advisories for the federal and state governments and contaminants not covered under MCL.
The Safe Drinking Water Act will succeed in addressing PFASs in drinking water through the water bodies that have been contaminated for decades. The monitoring of public water suppliers, The Safe Drinking Water Act will minimize the chances where water with PFASs contaminations beyond the maximum contaminant levels are delivered to Americans. Furthermore, The Safe Drinking Water Act helps the federal and state governments enforce the MCL and address the PFAS problem. Though most Americans have drunk PFAS contaminated water for decades, The Safe Drinking Water Act will mitigate prolonged exposure to the contaminants and moderate the adverse effects on health.
SDWA Implementation
The Act authorizes the environmental agency to evaluate public water systems to ascertain whether they are operating within the national drinking water regulations. EPA frequently assesses the water drank by Americans to identify contaminants that might be of concern to the SDWA. After identifying the contaminants, EPA assesses the health risks associated with individual contaminants. After that, EPA collects occurrence data to identify the prevalence of contaminations in public drinking water before it decides whether the water is safe for human consumption. Congressional Research Service (2020) notes that SDWA directs EPA to assess the likelihood that traces of PFAS may reoccur and raise public health concerns. For every five years, the SDWA directs EPA to provide a list of current or anticipated contaminators in communal water systems across the US. Early identification or anticipation of PFASs provides ample time for the state and federal governments to prepare countermeasures before the contamination becomes a public hazard.
In February 2020, the EPA resolved to develop mitigation measures to tackle perfluoro-octane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid (Congressional Research Service, 2020). The primary objective of SDWA is to provide health advisories concerning drinkable water. The Act has provided information on health effects, testing methods, and treatment procedures for contaminants that are yet to be regulated (Congressional Research Service, 2020). The Safe Drinking Water Act fills the gap in addressing drinking water contamination in water suppliers without either state or federal safety standards. Congressional Research Service (2020) mentions the EPA's lifespan advisories concerning the health levels for PFOS and PFOA set at seventy parts per trillion (ppt), beyond which the water is not safe for drinking.
On December 20, 2019, the legislature, about the Safe Drinking Water Act enacted the FY2020 NDAA (PL 116-92) bill that created a revolving fund to counter PFAS contaminations (Congressional Research Service, 2020). The environmental agency describes the revolving fund as meant to help states implement the drinking water programs and set up water examination points. Besides, the revolving fund finances technological and infrastructural improvements in water systems to improve water safety. Section 7312 of the bill granted EPA an appropriation of $100 million annually until 2024 to ensure that all PFAS contaminations are controlled before the public uses the water. The financial support with help EPA to extensively assess and analyze contaminations in drinking water in America exhaustively, thus securing drinking water from PFAS.
The Safe Drinking Water Act also holds community water system operators accountable for contaminations in the water they supplied by requiring them to reveal the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule results in the annual consumer confidence report to their customers (Congressional Research Service, 2021). The EPA also requires public water systems to notify drinking water customers about the contamination level that necessitated the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule monitoring. Therefore, the SDWA and the EPA let the consumers know the water level they drink to ensure consent. However, the Safe Drinking Water Act offers a temporary exemption to public water systems that cannot adhere to the drinking water regulations due to costs or other compelling reasons (Congressional Research Service, 2021). However, the US EPA provides financial aids, training, and alternative water treatment techniques to small water systems to ensure holistic development in drinking water safety. The US Environmental Agency (2015) notes that the SWDA intends to generate more information for the community. Therefore, water suppliers must disclose the source of the water they provide and any concern about the water quality.
Generally, the Safe Drinking Water was implemented as intended as it addresses the recognized and unrecognized contaminations in drinkable water across the US to guarantee that the public water systems are providing drinking water with no adverse health effects. Additionally, the Environmental Agency (2015) states that the SDWA has satisfactorily involved stakeholders in setting national drinking water standards, protected, and prevented adverse health effects due to contaminations FDASs.
Impact of the Safe Drinking Water Act
The Act provided short-term solutions to PFAS contamination in drinking water but failed to provide intermediate and long-term solutions. Although the Act has heightened water screening in drinking water systems, it has not provided strategies to minimize the disposal of PFAS wastes in water. It also addresses the results rather than the cause of pollution to the drinking water. PFAS stay active for the long term and are highly mobile and toxic (NRDC, 2019). Therefore, the SDWA should have initiated long-term recovery plans. Oslon (2019) explains that EPA is yet to develop enforceable drinking water standards for PFASs. The many standards set by EPA under the SDWA have been unenforceable and thus less effective in addressing the concerns in drinking water contamination. Oslon (2019) also argues that the SDWA was weakened by the amendments in 1996. The Act can rarely establish protective standards to safeguard the vulnerable society in the United States. The 1996 amendments eliminated the ability of SDWA to set health-protective standards regardless of it identifying recognizable and unrecognizable contaminations in drinking water. Most of the standards and guidelines established by the EPA and SDWA lack legal backing that can improve their enforcement.
In conclusion, drinking water pollution due to PFASs in the United States has been countered through the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFASs are common water contaminators in the United States and have been linked with different types of cancers, liver disease, and low birth weight. The Act has the mandate to set the acceptable standard of drinking water adhered to by public water suppliers. The US environmental agency operates under the SDWA to test and identify contaminants in drinking water in public water systems. After that, EPA establishes the maximum contaminant level beyond which drinking water is termed unfit. EPA also monitors all the suppliers and ensures they adhere to the standards of providing safe drinking water. Moreover, the EPA analyzes the health impacts of contaminations in drinkable water and advises the federal and state governments on the best mitigation strategies. SWDA also funds research and infrastructural projects to improve the studies on water contamination and disease risks. For small water suppliers, EPA and SWDA ease some requirements and offer technical and financial help to facilitate water safety. Since the public is the consumers of the contaminated drinking water, EPA and SWDA enable public information where the public is notified about the source and the safety of the drinking water. However, SWDA has failed to address the intermediate and long-term concerns of PFAS in drinking water since it lacks the power to establish enforceable standards and guidelines on drinking water safety. The SWDA was weakened in the 1996 amendments and cannot address the primary causes of water contamination with PSAFs.
References
Boelee, E., Geerling, G., Zaan, B., Blauw, A., & Vethaak, D. (2019). Water and health: From environmental pressures to integrated responses. Acta Tropica,193 , 217-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.03.011
Congressional Research Service. (2020). Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11219.pdf
Congressional Research Service. (2021). Regulating Contaminants under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA). https://crsreports.congress.gov R46652
Cordner, A., De La Rosa, Vanessa Y, Schaider, L. A., Rudel, R. A., Richter, L., & Brown, P. (2019). Guideline levels for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water: The role of scientific uncertainty, risk assessment decisions, and social factors. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology , 29 (2), 157-171. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-018-0099-9
Environmental Protection Agency (2015). Understanding the Safe Drinking Water Act. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-04/documents/epa816f04030.pdf
NRDC. (2019). Toxic Drinking Water: The PFAS Contamination Crisis. https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/toxic-drinking-water-pfas-contamination-fs.pdf
Olson, E, D. (2019). The Broken Safe Drinking Water Act Won’t Fix the PFAS Crisis. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson/broken-safe-drinking-water-act-wont-fix-pfas-crisis
