Chemical hazards

Background: The US Safe Drinking Water Act does not regulate private wells, leaving over 42 million US residents with little regulatory oversight of their water quality. Trends in public water systems suggest that private wells in Latinx communities may have higher nitrate concentrations than wells in other communities.

Issues: Smartphones and other mobile devices have become important tools for collecting wellness and personal health information. To take advantage of this potential, an environmental justice organization is developing an app to help citizen scientists collect water samples and share water quality data.

Cadmium (Cd) is a ubiquitous toxic heavy metal of high interest to the Superfund initiative. It causes toxic effects to many organs, including kidney, liver, lung, and bone. Cd is also a potential neurotoxicant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 6,939 deaths and 477,000 emergency department visits annually during 2009 to 2013 were attributed to 13 waterborne pathogens. The annual cost of hospitalization and treatment associated with these diseases totaled $3.8 billion.

Recent studies have linked phthalates with type 2 diabetes, but limited research exists on the potential association between phthalates and gestational diabetes (GDM), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and continuous glucose tolerance measures during pregnancy.

Background: Chlorpyrifos is among the most heavily used conventional insecticides in the United States. The public is chronically exposed to low levels of chlorpyrifos in food crop residues and drinking water.

Across the country, dry cleaning is the largest source of emissions of the toxic chemical perchloroethylene (Perc).