The Environmental Protection Agency says it will roll back limits on several types of what are known as forever chemicals in drinking water. The agency, however, will keep limits on the two most common types, called PFOA and PFOS, although it will offer a two-year deadline extension for utilities to comply. PFAS are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and are incredibly useful in household products, but that resilience also makes them hazardous.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials say they plan to phase out ingestible fluoride supplements used to strengthen children’s teeth, citing possible health risks. The announcement Tuesday is the latest action by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against a substance that has been a mainstay of dental care for decades. The Food and Drug Administration said it will conduct a scientific review of the products by late October with the aim of removing them from the market. It was not immediately clear if the agency would issue a formal ban. Previous scientific reviews have not shown any serious health problems with the products.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Fights are cropping up nationwide over fluoride in drinking water. Communities in Florida, Texas, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and elsewhere have debated the idea in recent months. And several have decided to stop adding it to drinking water. In August, a federal agency for the first time reported that there is a link between high levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. And in September, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate it in drinking water. The decision to add fluoride to drinking water rests with state and local officials, but advisers to Donald Trump have suggested he would push to remove it.… Continue Reading
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — More than 100,000 residents in western North Carolina are now allowed to drink and bathe with water from their home faucets. The change on Monday comes nearly two months after Hurricane Helene destroyed much of the local water system. Clay Chandler is a spokesman for Asheville’s Water Resources Department. He said tests of the water “were all clear” and that a boil-water notice was lifted. Asheville restored running water to most of its users by the end of October. But the city instituted a boil-water notice as workers brought the system back online and ran tests.… Continue Reading
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — It takes water to flush a toilet yet tens of thousands of North Carolinians have been without it since Hurricane Helene ripped through the state three weeks ago. The storm swallowed mountain towns, damaged water infrastructure and killed nearly 250 people across the Southeast. Local governments have been overwhelmed and that’s spurring community organizing and innovation. In Asheville, some residents who have well water are donating it to other people. One man lay a pipe to the roadway to make well water accessible to the public. Others are hauling water from pools and ponds to those in need. Still others are teaching neighbors to build makeshift toilets using buckets.… Continue Reading
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids. But he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be. The agency says it is reviewing the decision.… Continue Reading