There's nothing quite like getting ready for work on a Monday morning, doing one's best to be chipper and optimistic about the week, and then hearing not one, but two, stories on NPR about pollution in Houston.
KUHF reports that a new study from the non-profit, The Environmental Working Group, ranks Houston 95th out of 100 cities when it comes to the quality of drinking water. Over a four-year period, 46 chemicals were detected in the city's water. Yet the amounts of these chemicals did not exceed the limits set by the EPA. Which is more disturbing: the chemicals in the water, or the fact that it's legal to have 46 of them?
KUHF also reports that Houston is trembling in its cowboy boots because it looks like the Obama administration is going to set stricter limits on ozone and other air pollutants. Last year was the first time Houston met the EPA's limit of 84 parts per billion. That might soon change to less than 70. (The World Health Organization, by the way, recommends 51 ppb.) A long-term study detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the risk of dying from lung disease was 30% greater for people living in cities with high ozone levels (Houston, Los Angeles).
I plan to continue to use my Brita water filter... and I might just hold my breath until Garrett finishes his PhD.
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