title: Human health screening and public health significance of contaminants of emerging concern detected in public water supplies.
abstract: The source water and treated drinking water from twenty five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) across the United States were sampled in 2010-2012. Samples were analyzed for 247 contaminants using 15 chemical and microbiological methods. Most of these contaminants are not regulated currently either in drinking water or in discharges to ambient water by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or other U.S. regulatory agencies. This analysis shows that there is little public health concern for most of the contaminants detected in treated water from the 25 DWTPs participating in this study. For vanadium, the calculated Margin of Exposure (MOE) was less than the screening MOE in two DWTPs. For silicon, the calculated MOE was less than the screening MOE in one DWTP. Additional study, for example a national survey may be needed to determine the number of people ingesting vanadium and silicon above a level of concern. In addition, the concentrations of lithium found in treated water from several DWTPs are within the range previous research has suggested to have a human health effect. Additional investigation of this issue is necessary. Finally, new toxicological data suggest that exposure to manganese at levels in public water supplies may present a public health concern which will require a robust assessment of this information.
authors.affiliation: USEPA Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop, Denver, CO 80202, United States. Electronic address: Benson.bob@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, William Jefferson Clinton Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20460, United States. Electronic address: Conerly.octavia@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Octavia D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Conerly
authors.affiliation: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Technology Policy Fellow hosted, USEPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, William Jefferson Clinton Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20460, United States. Electronic address: Sander_William@bah.com.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 26 W Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, United States. Electronic address: Batt.angela@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Angela L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Batt
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Stennis Space Port, MS, United States. Electronic address: sboone@mscl.msstate.edu.
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.affiliation: USGS, National Water Quality Laboratory, PO Box 25585, Building 95, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, United States. Electronic address: Efurlong@usgs.gov.
authors.forename: Edward T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Furlong
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 26 W Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, United States. Electronic address: Glassmeyer.susan@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Susan T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Glassmeyer
authors.affiliation: USGS, Iowa Water Science Center, PO Box 1230, Iowa City, IA 52244, United States. Electronic address: dwkolpin@usgs.gov.
authors.forename: Dana W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kolpin
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 W Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, United States. Electronic address: mash.heath@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Heath E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Mash
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 W Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, United States. Electronic address: schenck.kathleen@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Schenck
authors.affiliation: USEPA, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Division, 109 T.W. Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States. Electronic address: Simmons.jane@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Jane Ellen
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018508:Water Purification; D014881:Water Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Contaminants of emerging concern; Drinking water; Human health; Margin of Exposure