A byproduct of manure runoff is polluting drinking water in thousands of US communities, according to a new report
Tens of millions of Americans have likely consumed drinking water containing cancer-causing chemicals that form when livestock manure and other organic substances end up in public water sources, according to a new analysis. Thousands of industrial-scale farms across the country spray manure from livestock onto farm or other lands, which then runs off into waterways. When water utilities disinfect water using chlorine and other chemicals, the process interacts with manure runoff to create a byproduct known as trihalomethanes, or TTHMs, which have been found to cause birth defects and cancers. A new analysis by the environmental watchdog organization Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that, between 2019 and 2023, unsafe levels of TTHMs ended up at least once in each of nearly 6,000 community water systems across 49 states and Washington, DC affecting an estimated 122 million people.
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