Urgent warning to residents in UK county due to ‘toxic’ drinking water

RESIDENTS of Cambridgeshire are being warned their drinking water could be toxic.

Cambridge Water has admitted that samples of water sources have contained high levels of chemicals that were banned two decades ago.

Experts say prolonged exposure to such toxins could increase the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol or obesity.

Last June, Cambridge Water removed a water supply containing four times the legal limit of perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) from the homes of customers in south Cambridgeshire.

But the company has not given details about how long homes had been supplied the harmful water before it was cut off.

In addition, some 1,000 people living in the area say they were never informed, The Guardian reported. 

Residents living in Stapleford and Great Shelford – home to a combined 7,000 or so people – say they have heard “nothing at all” from Cambridge Water.

The company told the paper that while investigations were underway, it “had not told the community”.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate limits PFOS to 100 nanograms per litre (ng/l).

Most read in Health

WEIGH TO GO

Fat-busting drug which helps patients shed over 2 stone to be available on NHS

LAST WISH

Saying goodbye to my kids as I bled to death… I just wanted one more cuddle

DRUG ALERT

Urgent warning to millions of Brits as paracetamol 'increases' heart attack risk

UNSAFE SEX

'Super gonorrhoea' cases rising – Brits urged 'get tested' if they spot 5 signs

Elinor Cordiner, Head of Drinking Water Quality and Compliance at Cambridge Water, said that sampling surveys were undertaken at their sites to establish whether there was any risk to customers in Cambridge after January 2021.

All of the sites, with the exception of one, fell within the tier 1, lowest risk, category.

The site at Duxford Airfield fell within the tier 3 category, with 4 being the highest.

The aquifer supplying the affected houses was found to have PFOS levels at almost 400ng/l – four times the legal limit.

In a statement, Ms Cordiner said that "water supplies from this source have always been blended with other sources before reaching our customers".

She claimed: "This means that levels of PFAS at customer taps were at, or around, the tier 1 (lowest risk) level."

As a precautionary measure, the site was removed from supply and the company is "in the process of installing additional treatment at the site".

Cambridge Water said it was “unable to guarantee a blend below 100ng/l for our customers at all times”.

Tony Fletcher, associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described levels of PFOS at Duxford as “clearly grossly exceeding anybody’s recommended limit for drinking water”. 

He said PFOS accumulates in the body, with a half-life of about three to five years, and that it takes a “long time to leach them out”.

The aquifer sits close to Duxford airfield. Airfields, airports and military bases are known to be potentially significant sources of PFOS due to there being fire-fighting training there previously. 

PFOS was a chemical used in fire fighting foam, as well as to protect textiles like carpet.

Duxford airfield said no banned substances “are knowingly used anywhere across our estate” and that it has not used firefighting foam “for years”.

The production of PFOS has slowly been phased out since the early 2000s after reports of harm to the environment and human health.

However, it is persistent in the environment. Due to its design, it never breaks down, dubbed a “forever chemical”. 

Humans only come into contact with PFOS through contaminated food and water. 

A report from Public health England says that “studies with animals fed PFOS or PFOA for a long period showed effects on the stomach, liver and thyroid hormones”, but there is sparse information from human studies.

At very high levels, animals exposed for prolonged periods were at risk of cancer.

Jamie DeWitt, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at East Carolina University in the US, told The Guardian: “People who have been consistently consuming water at [these levels] will have increased risk of certain types of diseases.”

She said these included “changes in cholesterol” and “reduced vaccine antibody responses”. 

Other chemicals related to PFOS, called PFAS, have “been linked to kidney and testicular cancer and those in utero or very young are at risk of developing health problems”, Prof DeWitt warned. 

Philippe Grandjean, of the University of Southern Denmark and adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard, said people drinking the water will not be “poisoned”.

“But the exposure will add to your risk of non-communicable disease, such as endocrine disruption, like thyroid gland problems – there may be problems with a host of diseases, like you’re at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity,” he warned. 

    Source: Read Full Article

    Previous post Gypsy TikTok star blasts 'sick' Jimmy Carr for 'ridiculous' Holocaust 'joke' & demands public apology
    Next post Price of night out will soar as clubs and bars plan major price rises