Insecticides Found In Tap Water For First Time

Traces of an insecticide have been discovered in tap water for the first time.

“Samples taken by scientists in Iowa showed that levels of neonicotinoid chemicals remained constant despite treatment. However, drinking water treated using a different method of filtration showed big reductions in neonic levels,” BBC News reported.

Chemists and engineers from the U.S. Geological Survey, a federal agency, and the University of Iowa, published the findings this week in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. They noted that the insecticides are difficult to treat in conventional water treatment processes.

“Neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread in surface waters across the agriculturally intensive Midwestern United States. We report for the first time the presence of three neonicotinoids in finished drinking water and demonstrate their general persistence during conventional water treatment,” the study said.

An Iowa City treatment facility where some samples were taken had lower concentrations of the contaminants. The plant used granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, according to the study.

“GAC rapidly and nearly completely removed all three neonicotinoids. Clothianidin is susceptible to reaction with free chlorine and may undergo at least partial transformation during chlorination,” the study said.

The study called GAC “a potentially effective management tool” for addressing insecticides contamination.

There is no U.S. EPA limit for neonicotinoids in drinking water, reports said.

Gregory LeFevre, a study author and University of Iowa environmental engineer, spoke to The Washington Post about the significance of the findings.

“Having these types of compounds present in water does have the potential to be concerning,” he said, “but we don’t really know, at this point, what these levels might be.”

Even before this report was published, insecticides in the study had a dicey reputation.

“Of the many pesticides that American farmers have embraced in their war on bugs, neonicotinoids are among the most popular. One of them, called imidacloprid, is among the world’s best-selling insecticides, boasting sales of over $1 billion a year. But with their widespread use comes a notorious reputation — that neonics, as they are nicknamed, are a bee killer. A 2016 study suggested a link between neonicotinoid use and local pollinator extinctions, though other agricultural researchers contested the pesticides' bad rap,” The Washington Post reported.

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