Systems designed to treat arsenic in private well water may be malfunctioning and endangering the health of people who count on them to keep their water safe, according to Rutgers researchers. Megan Rockafellow-Baldoni, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health and justice at the Rutgers School of Public Health, together with co-authors including Rutgers alum Steven Spayd, a retired research scientist formerly with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, tested the water of 62 New Jersey homes with whole-house arsenic-removing water treatment systems. Their study was published in the journal Water Environment Research.
Spayd said “these water treatment systems may be solving one exposure problem by removing dissolved arsenic from the water, but potentially creating a new exposure, the ingestion of arsenic treatment media with high concentrations of arsenic.” While arsenic is a naturally occurring element, it is a known human carcinogen and dangerous to human health. For this reason, when New Jersey homes with wells are sold, it is required they are tested for arsenic. If the element is found above safe levels for drinking water, an arsenic treatment system can be installed. To read the full story.