Toxic Thursdays-Toxins in Water II

Toxins in the Water II

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Welcome to the second week of toxins in water!  If you missed the first week, we talked about the types of contaminants that can be in water.

This week we are going to start to discuss the toxins that may be in our water.

The possible contaminants that were mentioned last week include:

• Insecticides and herbicides
• Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels
• Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs)
• Chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic products (medicine)
• Ammonia from food processing waste
• Fertilizers containing nitrates and phosphates

This week we are going to start to talk about insecticides and pesticides.

Are these toxins really in my water?

To find out if these toxins are in your water, visit EWG’s site.

Why are these toxins in my water?

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There are a few major routes through which insecticides and pesticides reach the water:

• they may drift outside of the intended area when it is sprayed
• they may percolate, or leach, through the soil
• they may be carried to the water as runoff
• they may be spilled (source)
• they may be carried to water by eroding soil (source)

In streams sampled by NAWQA, at least one pesticide or degradate was detected more than 90 percent of the time in water, in more than 80 percent of fish samples, and in more than 50 percent of bed-sediment samples collected during 1992– 2001 (source)

What types of insecticides and pesticides are we talking about?

PESTICIDES MOST OFTEN IMPLICATED IN SYMPTOMATIC ILLNESSES, 1996

Rank	Pesticide or Pesticide Class	Child < 6 years	Adults6-19 yrs.	Total*
1	Organophosphates	700	3274	4002
2	Pyrethrins and pyrethroids**	1100	2850	3950
3	Pine oil disinfectants	1336	903	2246
4	Hypochlorite disinfectants	808	1291	2109
5	Insect repellents	1081	997	2086
6	Phenol disinfectants	630	405	1040
7	Carbamate insecticides	202	817	1030
8	Organochlorine insecticides	229	454	685
9	Phenoxy herbicides	63	387	453
10	Anticoagulant rodenticides	176	33	209
	All Other Pesticides	954	3604	4623
	Total all pesticides/disinfectants	7279	15,015	22,433

* Totals include a small number of cases with unknown age.

** Rough estimate: includes some veterinary products not classified by chemical type.

Source: American Association of Poison Control Centers, Toxic Exposure Surveillance

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What’s next?

In the next few weeks, we will talk about the top inseticides and pesticides found in water and the toxic effects they can have.

Question?

Do you worry about things like inseticides and pesticides in your water?

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