Study finds contaminants in Martin County drinking water

By Lilly Adkins
BSN Associate Editor

LEXINGTON — A year-long pilot study that began in December 2018 by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment found high levels of contaminants in Martin County drinking water samples, according to a news release issued July 28. Preliminary findings showe Martin County drinking water regularly exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contamination levels for cancer-causing disinfection byproducts and coliform bacteria, the release said. UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment professors Jason Unrine and Wayne Sanderson, along with Martin County resident Nina McCoy, worked together on the study, the release said, with funding from the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences in the College of Nursing and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The pilot study included 97 homes in Martin County where samples were taken of the water and measured for contaminants, the release said. Nearly all Martin County survey respondents reported problems with their drinking water, including odor, appearance, taste and pressure. Only 12 percent of respondents drink the tap water, the release said, and the UK researchers found 47 percent of the samples had at least one contaminant that exceeded U.S. EPA regulation guidelines. “We found that there were frequent exceedances of U.S. EPA maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for disinfection byproducts in the summer and early autumn, although the EPA regulates these contaminants based on a running annual average and not in individual samples,” Unrine said in the release. “Disinfection byproducts are associated with increased incidence of adverse health effects including bladder cancer and developmental birth defects in epidemiological studies. Some of these studies have shown associations with these health effects from disinfection byproducts at concentrations that are similar to the average concentrations we measured in Martin County. It is important to note that the cancer studies assume lifelong exposure.” Disinfection byproducts are formed when natural organic matter interacts with chlorine during the water treatment process, the release said. Of the samples, 10 percent exceeded maximum contaminant levels for haloacetic acids, and 29 percent exceeded the maximum contaminant levels for total trihalomethanes, the release said. Both are disinfection byproducts, the release said, and concentrations of haloacetic acids were higher in homes farther from the drinking water treatment plant. The UK researchers also detected coliform bacteria in 13% percent of the drinking water samples, which is higher in the summer and early fall, which indicates the possible presence of harmful bacteria in the water, the release said “We think the seasonal increase is due to several factors, including water temperature, the increase in algae and organic matter in the Crum Reservoir and Tug Fork River and low water levels in the river and reservoir during these months,” Unrine said. “Future efforts at reducing disinfection byproduct exposure could address seasonal changes in source water chemistry and how adjustments to the treatment process and repairs to the distribution system might be made to reduce formation of these compounds.” The preliminary findings are available online at https://pss.ca.uky.edu/sites/pss.ca.uky.edu/files/martin_county_report_final.pdf.