Human health screening and public health significance of contaminants of emerging concern detected in public water supplies

The source water and treated drinking water from twenty five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) across the United States were sampled in 2010–2012. Samples were analyzed for 247 contaminants using 15 chemical and microbiological methods. Most of these contaminants are not regulated currently either in drinking water or in discharges to ambient water by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or other U.S. regulatory agencies. This analysis shows that there is little public health concern for most of the contaminants detected in treated water from the 25 DWTPs participating in this study. For vanadium, the calculated Margin of Exposure (MOE) was less than the screening MOE in two DWTPs. For silicon, the calculated MOE was less than the screening MOE in one DWTP. Additional study, for example a national survey may be needed to determine the number of people ingesting vanadium and silicon above a level of concern. In addition, the concentrations of lithium found in treated water from several DWTPs are within the range previous research has suggested to have a human health effect. Additional investigation of this issue is necessary. Finally, new toxicological data suggest that exposure to manganese at levels in public water supplies may present a public health concern which will require a robust assessment of this information. - Highlights: • Water samples from 25 drinking water treatment plants were collected in 2010-2012. • The water samples were analyzed for 247 contaminants. • The health significance of the contaminants in the treated water was assessed. • The measure of the health significance was the margin of exposure. • This analysis shows only a small number of contaminants raise a health concern.