Tap Water: Is it REALLY safe?

Inspired by a water quality article that was posted on dailyfinance.com and was recently shared by a friend of mine, I decided to look into why I get sick when I drink more than 3 glasses of Nashua tap water in a single day. I have lived in the Nashua area for the majority of my life and realized about nine years ago that the frequency of my then regularly occurring migraine headaches were reduced from several times per month to about once per year after I switched to only drinking spring water.

This is when I should probably mention that I am certainly not a chemist or an engineer, but having taken courses in relevant fields (such as chemistry, anatomy and physiology, toxicology, applied microbiology, and immunology just to name a few) as an undergraduate, I am confident that my comprehension of the inter-relatedness of chemical pollutants to human illness far exceeds that of the average consumer.  Most people probably wouldn’t even think of sorting through the data in the Water Quality Analysis Reports (WQAR) but for someone with basic toxicology experience and internet access, the information is relatively easy to interpret.

Pennichuck Corporation manages the water supply for many communities in New Hampshire, including the City of Nashua. Naturally, the Pennichuck Water Works website was a great place to begin my search for information about our local tap water. First I clicked on the ‘Environment’ tab where I then found links for Water Quality Analysis Reports (WQAR) and clicked on the one that has information for the towns of Nashua, Hollis, Merrimack, Amherst, and Tyngsborough. The link opened a PDF file containing a 3-page list of contaminants found in the water of these towns including Volatile Organic Contaminants, Synthetic Organic Contaminants, Inorganic Contaminants, and Secondary Contaminants (Aesthetic).

On the first page with the Volatile Organic Contaminants I noticed many ethane, propane, and benzene variations but none seemed to stand out so I looked at the next column where levels of each contaminant are listed in units of µg/L (micrograms per Liter or parts per billion). According to the WQAR for Nashua on August 6th 2013, levels of Nitrobenzene were less than 10 parts per billion, despite the fact that it clearly states on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nitrobenzene webpage  that “nitrobenzene has not been detected in ambient air or in drinking water”. While the Nashua WQAR document lists a total number of 132 contaminants (not including secondary contaminants), it also states that Nitrobenzene is one of 60 contaminants on that list which is not regulated by the State or EPA.

According to the EPA webpage for nitrobenzene, human exposure to the chemical on either a long or short-term basis alters the hemoglobin molecules which transport oxygen to the body’s tissues.  Low exposure levels result in low-oxygen related symptoms like dizziness, dyspnea, fatigue, headache, and weakness, while higher exposure levels can lead to more serious complications like diminished vision and respiration, abnormal coloring, organ damage (liver and kidneys in particular), and even coma. The EPA webpage also asserts that more data is needed to determine actual dosage safety of nitrobenzene since these were previously determined by levels induced by inhalation and not oral ingestion. So basically, even though they know it’s toxic and affects health and fertility in animal models, the EPA is not sure what levels are safe for humans to ingest orally through drinking water.

In New Hampshire most of us take for granted that our drinking water is clean and safe but after looking into only this one contaminant out of the 132 contaminants found in Nashua’s water supply, I am deeply disturbed. What you don’t know CAN hurt you.