Unhealthy levels of chemicals found in Chatham County drinking water

Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 09:46:32 -0400
From: Shelly Jacobs
Subject: Unhealthy levels of  chemicals found in Chatham County drinking water:

Research conducted has found higher than healthy levels of several harmful chemicals in the public water supply of Pittsboro/ Chatham County. The Pittsboro mayor does not want to cause a panic by alerting everyone about the problem. I believe the public has a right to know and can decide accordingly how they would like to respond.

Here is the link to the article concerning the research that has been done in the past and continues to be done, followed by a few excerpts from the article:

“Despite all of the studies, the public outcry that began after Knappe’s team of scientists found GenX in Wilmington’s drinking water has not materialized in Pittsboro.”

The information is out there but maybe it just hasn’t captured the public in the same way as it has with the GenX issue,” Knappe said. “There is no clear bad actor. With GenX, it was clear.

Yet another study to focus on Pittsboro could change that.

This latest one, led by Duke University researchers Heather Stapleton and Lee Ferguson, aims, in part, to determine the sources of the contamination and the health effects it may be having on Pittsboro’s residents.

Research shows that the level of PFAS in Pittsboro’s drinking water is 30 times higher than it is in Durham. A new study by Duke University aims to determine whether Pittsboro residents are being harmed.
Knappe’s group had set out to look for bromide, a compound that reacts with drinking water disinfectants to produce toxic byproducts, including trihalomethanes <https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2014/04/07/coal-waste-may-cause-carcinogen-spikes-in-drinking-water/>, which can contribute to cancer. They found not only an abundance of bromide, but also high levels of PFAS and 1,4 dioxane, an industrial solvent that the EPA also lists as a probable carcinogen