Safe Drinking Water

After conducting recent studies at Greenwich University in England, concerns have been raised about the regulations for what is considered to be safe drinking water. PFAS are chemicals that can cause the following liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression and cancer.Studies have proven that the levels of PFAS have exceeded the general European standards. However, given that the UK has different regulations, the conditions of the drinking water did pass the UK standards. The chemicals found in the drinking water in the UK have been linked to causing various diseases, especially cancer. These chemicals can be found in everyday goods such as non-stick pans, food packaging etc. Even though after testing different samples of the water, it was found that the PFAS are in small amounts, they are still considered to be a threat for people’s safety, and increase the risk of disease among the consumers.PFOA and PFOS are common PFAS chemicals, and studies conducted at the University of Michigan have proven that these chemicals have links to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy-induced hypertension, even when found in small amounts.  Specific communities are experiencing clear results that these chemicals are creating diseases. For example, in the Channel Island of Jersey, the St Ouen's Bay aquifer had been polluted with PFAS. This raised concern considering this contaminated water had been used as drinking water. Because of this issue, residents experiencing health related issues began being offered blood tests that indicated what was wrong with them. After distributing these tests, many of the residents were found to have diseases such as kidney related issues, which are linked to the dangerous chemicals found in the drinking water. 

In my opinion, this is an issue that could be very easily avoided if more attention was brought to the safety of drinking water. As a citizen, questioning whether drinking water is safe should not be an issue, especially if it causes severe diseases amongst the population and even goes as far as to kill people. Water is something that everyone should have access to and shouldn’t need to question whether or not it is putting them at health related risk. If more attention, and higher standards were set to ensure safe drinking water, these problems could have been prevented.