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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: drinking water

drinking water stories: 19 news summaries

Taps Turn Toxic as Clean Water Laws Ignored

Probe finds 500,000 violations of clean water laws in last 5 years

Sep 13, 09 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tap water in a shocking number of American communities is making people ill, rotting teeth, burning skin, and likely causing some cancers and birth defects, reports the New York Times. A lengthy Times investigation found that factories have violated clean water laws half a million times in five years and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drinking water • Clean Water Act

  Lithium in Water 
  Cuts Suicide Rate 

Japanese study links trace amounts in water supply to less suicides

May 2, 09 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - People in areas where the tap water contains lithium are less likely to kill themselves, according to a new Japanese study. The researchers found that the element—used in high doses to treat mood disorders—appeared to "significantly" reduce the suicide rate even when only tiny amounts of it... More »

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suicide • drinking water • suicide rate • suicide prevention • lithium

(Newser) - The world’s rivers are drying up as climate change worsens and the demand for water increases, the BBC reports. Researchers studying 925 major waterways—from the Ganges to the Colorado—found significantly less fresh water flowing into oceans in 2004 than 50 years earlier. If the trend continues, the... More »

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climate change • global warming • glacier • river • drinking water • water shortage • water supply • scientific study • Colorado River • weather data • Ganges River

(Newser) - Federal regulators have consistently looked away as Big Pharma and other manufacturers poured at least 271 million pounds of drugs into waterways that supply US drinking water, the AP reports. Records kept unintentionally by the FDA and EPA show that 22 compounds, some considered dangerous by scientists, have leaked into... More »

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drugs • pollution • pharmaceutical companies • manufacturer • drinking water • water supply

investigation

CDC Soft-Pedaled Signs of DC Lead Poisoning


Apr 10, 09 12:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - A CDC report withheld evidence linking water contamination to lead poisoning in Washington, DC, children, reports Salon. The 2004 study said city water caused only slightly increased blood lead levels, but thousands of blood tests were missing from the influential report, which may have skewed results. And just 3 years... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • lead poisoning • drinking water • tap water

OPINION

Infrastructure Revitalization Is Right and Right

A conservative argues for investing in water, energy, transport

Dec 8, 08 12:12 PM CST
(Newser) - Conservatives who fear that investing in the nation’s infrastructure goes against core Reaganite values need to get over it. Our aging energy, water, and transportation systems are in dire need of corporate dollars and ingenuity, but “the private sector alone cannot handle the job—and the states are... More »

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economics • electricity • Reagan Revolution • investment • transportation • infrastructure • Treasury Department • drinking water • conservative base

Doctors See Rise in Kids With Kidney Stones

Salty foods, lack of water, and obesity
may be at fault

Oct 28, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Once associated with middle age, kidney stones are growing more common among US children, the New York Times reports. A few decades ago, physicians would “see a kid with a stone once every few months,” says one doctor. “Now we see kids once a week or less.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • melamine • children • soda • children's health care • drinking water • salt • sodium • kidney stones

EPA Won't Limit Rocket-Fuel Ingredient in Water

Contaminant perchlorate is linked to thyroid problems

Sep 23, 08 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - The EPA has decided not to set limits for a component of rocket fuel that contaminates drinking water, according to an agency document reviewed by the AP. Perchlorate, linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women and babies, enters the water supply through improper disposal by rocket test sites and chemical... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Environmental Protection Agency • drinking water • contaminated water • EPA • contaminants

 Diabetes Linked to
 Arsenic in Tap Water

Study suggests millions may face serious
risk from their tap

Aug 20, 08 9:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arsenic in the drinking water of millions of Americans may be contributing to the diabetes epidemic, Bloomberg reports. Researchers found that people with high levels of arsenic in their urine were nearly four times more likely to have type 2 diabetes. Higher rates of diabetes occurred even with trace amounts... More »

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diabetes • American Medical Association • drinking water • type 2 diabetes • water supply • arsenic • tap water

 Marketing Coup:
 Just Add Water 

Consumers swallow claims of higher quality hook, line, and sinker

Jun 30, 08 10:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - A commodity that's widely available practically free is also on sale for thousands of times the actual cost, repackaged as a luxury item. It's transported around the country and even across the world, generating untold volumes of CO2. It's water, of course. The Washington Post looks at a marketing effort... More »

MORE ABOUT:
water • marketing • Aquafina • drinking water • tap water

 Emergency H20
 Flows Into
 Parched
 Barcelona 

Water tanker arrives as Spain suffers severe drought

May 14, 08 8:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barcelona is having to ship in emergency supplies of drinking water as Spain suffers its worst drought since records began 60 years ago, the Guardian reports. The first shipment of 5 million gallons arrived yesterday and dozens more are scheduled. The city's reservoirs are down to a quarter of capacity... More »

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Spain • water • Barcelona • Catalonia • drinking water • water shortage • water supply

 Drinking Water 
 Myths Tough 
 to Swallow  

Health benefits, need to drink more unclear

Apr 22, 08 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - With high-end restaurants offering diners tap water and concerns about the health and environmental impact of plastic bottles at an all-time high, NPR sets the record straight about some common myths related to drinking water:
  1. Not only is drinking 8 glasses daily not necessary, "nobody really knows" where
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
water • list • healthy habits • drinking water • health tips

 Water-Guzzling
 Benefits Don't Wash 

No proof 8 glasses
a day does a
body good: study

Apr 3, 08 12:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Kidney experts looking into the alleged health benefits of drinking lots of water have found the evidence to be far from watertight, Reuters reports. Claims that increased water intake improves skin tone, flushes toxins from the body, reduces appetite, and prevents headaches have little solid research behind them, according to... More »

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health • water • medical research • kidney • drinking water

Em-Bottled
SF Mayor Urges Restaurants to Tap City's Water

Newsom continues anti-plastic campaign

Mar 21, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - San Francisco’s mayor called on restaurants yesterday to quit selling bottled water and favor the tap, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Gavin Newsom, a former restaurateur, says the plastic containers pile up in landfills and hurt the environment. The request—which isn’t a requirement—follows Newsom’s ban... More »

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California • bottled water • San Francisco • water • restaurant • drinking water • Gavin Newsom • green business • restaurateurs • tap water

Iraq Still Lacks Clean Water, Health Care

Medical system worse than ever at 5-year mark, says Red Cross

Mar 17, 08 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Five years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, its health care system is “now in worse shape than ever,” and millions of Iraqis still don’t have clean water and medical care, Reuters reports. “The humanitarian situation in most of the country remains among the most critical... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • health care • civilian casualties • Red Cross • humanitarian crisis • drinking water • Iraqi refugees • Iraq war

Senate to Hold Drug Water Hearings

Lawmakers press EPA to establish task force on contaminants

Mar 11, 08 6:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alarmed by an AP story, two top senators vowed yesterday to probe drug traces in US drinking water. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Frank Lautenberg plan to lead hearings next month to "protect our residents and clean up our water supply," Lautenberg said. The first of AP's three... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congressional investigations • Congressional oversight • Environmental Protection Agency • pharmaceutical • drinking water • Barbara Boxer • water supply

Drugs Found in US Water Supply

Water drunk by 41M people contaminated

Mar 10, 08 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Small amounts of a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs have been found in drinking water used daily by 41 million Americans in 24 major cities. A major AP investigation found pain killers, anti-seizure drugs, angina and cholesterol medications, mood-altering drugs, and other pharmaceuticals in tap water, the water... More »

MORE ABOUT:
bottled water • drugs • Washington DC • Detroit • Southern California • Louisville • Environmental Protection Agency • Philadelphia • contamination • pharmaceutical • drinking water • US Geological Survey • medication • lakes • reservoirs • aquifers • water table

The Lucky Find Homes, but No Water, Power

Returning SoCal residents face weeks
of hardships

Oct 27, 07 6:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of Southern California residents have returned to their homes—those fortunate enough to find them standing—to find no electricity and no drinking water, with town reservoirs drained to fight fires, and air choked with smoke and ash. The threat of changing weather also looms: the hot winds that... More »

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California • San Diego • electricity • wildfires • drinking water • air pollution • California fires

Chicago Puts
Bottled Water
Tax on Tap

You jog?
You chug?
You pay?

Aug 14, 07 4:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - With bottled water getting bad marks from environmentalists and Chicago eager to green up its act, a city alderman has proposed a first: a 25-cent tax on bottled water. George Cardenas says that not only is all that plastic a disaster, but drinking bottled water cuts consumption of Chicago's own... More »

MORE ABOUT:
bottled water • Chicago • taxes • water • environmentalism • Richard Daley • plastic • George Cardenas • drinking water

19 Stories


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