The Case For Stricter Pollution Laws
Written by Quentin Septer
Since it’s conception on December 2, 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has served as the nation’s watchdog on matters of pollution and environmental health. The Clean Water Act. The Clean Air Act. The Safe Drinking Water Act. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). All of these laws and more regulate pollution here in the United States. But the bulk of these regulations were established nearly half a century ago, and many haven’t been updated for decades. Meanwhile, scientific instruments have become more sensitive, and the toxicological effects of numerous pollutants have been documented at ever more miniscule concentrations. Pollution regulations in this country, the science suggests, are outdated and in need of revision.
Consider lead. Throughout the middle of the twentieth century, lead was implemented in everything from gasoline and paint to piping and food packaging. In human beings, lead can cause nerve damage and the death of neurons, among other neurotoxic effects. Plainly, there’s no “safe” level of lead in the human body. The EPA acknowledges this. Yet, the EPA’s “action level” on lead in public drinking water is set at 15 micrograms per liter, and has been since 1991.
And consider mercury, another global pollutant. Much like lead, even minute quantities of mercury can impair human health. Mercury is particularly toxic to the kidneys. And a related molecule, methylmercury—which forms when inorganic mercury reacts with various species of bacteria—has even more pronounced toxicological effects. Methylmercury is neurotoxic, and it readily crosses the blood-brain barrier. It crosses the placental barrier too, and in the United States alone, as many as 75,000 babies are born with learning disabilities every year as a direct result of methylmercury exposure in utero. Still, the EPA has yet to establish a maximum contaminant level (MCL) on methylmercury in public drinking water.
“MCLs are set as close to the health goals as possible,” the EPA states, “considering costs, benefits, and the ability of public water systems to detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment technologies.” In a perfect world, the EPA—one would hope—would have a zero tolerance policy on pollutants the likes of lead and methylmercury. The global environment has become so thoroughly polluted with molecules like lead, methylmercury and other contaminants, however, that human beings will inevitably be exposed to these pollutants at some concentration, at some point in their lives. The best we can do with current water treatment technologies is minimize exposure.
This brings us to the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the CDC obtained blood samples from folks across the country. Approximately 98% of study participants had detectable levels of PFAS in their bloodstreams. Many PFAS—like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), for example—don’t biodegrade. Left unabated, these compounds linger in the environment for millennia. For this reason, the compounds are commonly known as “forever chemicals.” A 2020 study, published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, estimated that over 200 million Americans are drinking PFAS-tainted tap water. And a growing body of scientific literature suggests these molecules may adversely affect human health. Increased rates of birth defects, various cancers, liver diseases, thyroid disorders and endocrine disruption; all have been correlated with human exposure to PFOA and PFOS.
“To provide Americans, including the most sensitive populations, with a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure to PFOA and PFOS from drinking water, EPA has established the health advisory levels at 70 parts per trillion,” a white paper from the EPA reads. To date, however, no MCLs have been established for PFOA or PFOS.
I’ve discussed three pollutants here, but I could have chosen from any of the approximate 85,000 chemical compounds inventoried under the TSCA. Another 700 compounds are added to the TSCA every year, on average. Yet, the EPA’s National Primary Drinking Water Regulations enforce pollution standards on a mere 90 contaminants—microorganisms, disinfectants, radionuclides, organic and inorganic chemicals included. The full suite of toxicological effects posed by the tens of thousands of pollutants yet to be regulated by the EPA remain unknown to science. Thousands have yet to be so much as assessed for toxicity in human beings and ecosystems alike. And in accordance with the TSCA, many of these compounds are granted “generally recognized as safe” status until proven harmful. This is, at present, a frontier in environmental science.
All of this brings me to two conclusions. First, many historic pollutants are in need of more stringent regulations, informed by up-to-date research. Second, more thorough toxicology testing of new chemicals should be mandated before these compounds can be released to market—before these chemicals can become pollutants in the first place.