Under Trump, EPA Retreats From Proposed Ban on Key Uses of TCE
Drinking water supplies for 14 million Americans are contaminated with a cancer-causing industrial solvent made notorious by the book and film "A Civil Action," according to a new EWG analysis of tests from public utilities nationwide.
The chemical is trichloroethylene, or TCE. Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is retreating from an earlier proposal to ban key uses of TCE. The EPA is also excluding TCE exposures through water, air and soil pollution from an ongoing safety assessment under the nation’s overhauled toxic chemicals law.
In 2015, the latest year for which comprehensive data are available, TCE was detected in EPA-mandated tests by 321 public water systems in 36 states. EWG’s Tap Water Database, which aggregates test results from utilities nationwide, shows that in about half of those systems, average annual levels of TCE were above what some health authorities say is safe for infants and developing fetuses.
EWG’s interactive map shows the location of all systems with TCE contamination in 2015. Drinking […]
Full article: ‘A Civil Action’ Carcinogen Pollutes Tap Water Supplies for 14 Million Americans
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EPA: Water at Puerto Rico Superfund site is fit for consumption
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