“Volunteer water monitoring is best able to inform local water quality goals if the decision-making and coordination is locally led,” said Steve Konrady with the DNR’s Water Quality Bureau in a press release. The new program aims to delegate the leadership to local leaders, and to keep data in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Quality Exchange. The old program has been without a coordinator for some time now, and its database has not been updated in two years. Volunteer water quality programs have existed in the DNR since 1998, but the new program focuses more on the local leadership. This announcement comes just weeks after the DNR announced several cutbacks as a result of budgetary shortfalls. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has launched a new water quality monitoring program led by local volunteers in communities around the state. The efforts will be locally-led, delegated from a position that used to exist within the DNR.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is employing volunteer “citizen scientists” to monitor water quality.
“We think the science has advanced, but the legal limits haven’t been re-evaluated the way they should be,” Cox told the Register. Nitrates are considered safe below 5 parts per million, but the legal level is 10 parts per million.Ĭraig Cox, a senior vice president at Environmental Working Group, told The Des Moines Register the legal levels, which are set by the federal government, can take a long time to adjust to levels deemed safe by new research. A common contaminant from agricultural runoff, nitrate, can cause blue baby syndrome and can lead to cancer. For example, the recommended safe level of trihalomethanes, which can cause cancer, is 0.8 parts per billion, while the legal limit is 80 parts per million. The legal limits often exceed the recommended health levels for various contaminants. Of these, four contaminants were found in excess of legal limits in at least 10 utilities, and hundreds more utilities had 10 contaminants exceeding recommended health levels. In Iowa, the database shows 89 contaminants detected by 1,091 utilities between 20. The Environmental Working Group unveiled a nationwide database of water quality data earlier this week.
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are not currently required to measure PCB concentrations.įor more information or to read the full study, visit iowa-environmental-focus-dot-org.įrom the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Betsy Stone.Ī new database showed some Iowa utilities had water contaminants exceeding health guidelines and government-mandated limits.Īn environmental group warns that federal standards for contaminants in drinking water may be insufficient in preventing cancer, pregnancy complications, and other health issues. Research has shown that exposure to PCBs during childhood can cause significant neurological deficits, visual impairment and learning difficulties.
The research article, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, points to old window caulking and light ballasts as likely sources of PCBs in schools. PCBs were commonly used in construction and manufacturing through 1979. The study found that regardless of the school’s location, from Columbus Junction in rural Iowa to heavy industrial areas of East Chicago, concentrations of PCBs were higher indoors. PCBs are a class of manmade organic chemicals known to cause cancer as well as immune, endocrine and reproductive system problems in humans. Led by the Iowa Superfund Research Program, the study tested indoor and outdoor air samples from six schools for PCBs. Transcript: In the largest study of its kind, UI Researchers recently made important discoveries related to the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in schools. This week’s On The Radio segment discusses a recent University of Iowa study which revealed that dated building materials in schools release PCBs into the air. (Gordon Lew/ flickr) Jenna Ladd| July 31, 2017 Researchers found concentrations of PCBs to be higher indoors regardless of the school’s location.
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