{"id":200575,"date":"2016-08-09T10:14:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T14:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=200575"},"modified":"2017-01-30T14:38:27","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T19:38:27","slug":"unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tUnsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tKaren Feldscher\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Chan School Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tHigh levels of fluorinated compounds have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems \u2014 polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl<\/a> substances (PFASs) \u2014 exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking-water supplies for 6 million people in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> (SEAS).<\/p>\n

The study was published Aug. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,\u201d said lead author Xindi Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found, because government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the U.S. population \u2014 about 100 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n

PFASs have been used over the past 60 years in industrial and commercial products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans. They have been linked with cancer, hormone disruption<\/a>, high cholesterol, and obesity. Although several major manufacturers have discontinued the use of some PFASs, the chemicals continue to persist in people and wildlife. Drinking water is one of the main routes through which people can be exposed.<\/p>\n

The researchers looked at concentrations of six types of PFASs in drinking-water supplies, using data from more than 36,000 water samples collected nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2015. They also looked at industrial sites that manufacture or use PFASs; at military fire-training sites and civilian airports where firefighting foam containing PFASs is used; and at wastewater-treatment plants. Discharges from these plants \u2014 which are unable to remove PFASs from wastewater by standard treatment methods \u2014 could contaminate groundwater. So could the sludge the plants generate, which is frequently used as fertilizer.<\/p>\n

The study found that PFASs were detectable at the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states across the United States. Drinking water from 13 states accounted for 75 percent of the detections: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois, in order of frequency of detection.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t

\"\"
from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href="http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n

Sixty-six of the public water supplies examined, serving six million people, had at least one water sample that measured at or above the EPA safety limit of 70 parts per trillion (ng\/L) for two types of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations in some locations ranged as high as 349 ng\/L for PFOA and 1,800 ng\/L for PFOS.<\/p>\n

The highest levels of PFASs were detected in watersheds near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants \u2014 all places where these chemicals may be used or found.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese compounds are potent immunotoxicants<\/a> in children and recent work suggests drinking-water safety levels should be much lower than the provisional guidelines established by EPA,\u201d said Elsie Sunderland<\/a>, senior author of the study and associate professor at both the Harvard Chan School and SEAS.<\/p>\n

Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Philippe Grandjean and Courtney Carignan. Funding for the study came from the Smith Family Foundation and a private donor.<\/p>\n

From the authors of the\u00a0study: We have mapped watersheds in the United States that have potentially high concentrations of PFASs based on U.S. EPA data. This\u00a0does not\u00a0mean that all drinking water supplies within the highlighted regions contain high PFAS concentrations, but that at least one sample from at least one water supply was reported to be at or above levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA\u00a0between 2013 and 2015.\u00a0However, no measurements have been made in many water supplies across the country.\u00a0We recommend increased monitoring of these contaminants in our drinking water. For more information, please contact the EPA: Cathy Milbourn,\u00a0Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov<\/a>, or Monica Lee,\u00a0Lee.monica@Epa.gov<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

PFASs and reduced immune response<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another Harvard Chan School study, led by Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggested negative health impacts of PFAS exposure. That study looked at a group of about 600 adolescents from the Faroe Islands, an island country off the coast of Denmark. Those exposed to PFASs at a young age had lower-than-expected levels of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus, for which they had been immunized. The findings suggested that PFASs, which are known to interfere with immune function, may be involved in reducing the effectiveness of vaccines in children.<\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Harvard Chan School study has found that drinking-water samples near industrial sites, military fire-training areas, and wastewater-treatment plants have the highest levels of fluorinated compounds, which have been linked with cancer, hormone disruption, high cholesterol, and obesity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108352576,"featured_media":200576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":16,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2022-04-30 21:37","document_color_palette":null,"author":"Karen Feldscher","affiliation":"Harvard Chan School Communications","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39644],"tags":[36644,12156,36645,15838,16124,36646,36647,36648,36649,36650,30821],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-200575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-department-of-environmental-health-at-harvard-chan-school","tag-elsie-sunderland","tag-exceed-safety-levels","tag-harvard-john-a-paulson-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences","tag-harvard-t-h-chan-school-of-public-health","tag-hormone-disruption","tag-perfluoroalkyl","tag-pfass","tag-polyfluoroalkyl","tag-public-drinking-water","tag-seas"],"yoast_head":"\nUnsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states — Harvard Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Harvard Chan School study has found that drinking-water samples near industrial sites, military fire-training areas, and wastewater-treatment plants have the highest levels of fluorinated compounds, which have been linked with cancer, hormone disruption, high cholesterol, and obesity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states — Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Harvard Chan School study has found that drinking-water samples near industrial sites, military fire-training areas, and wastewater-treatment plants have the highest levels of fluorinated compounds, which have been linked with cancer, hormone disruption, high cholesterol, and obesity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T14:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-30T19:38:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/faucet-running.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"605\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gazettejohnbaglione\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"gazettejohnbaglione\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/99782494e562769a740295b11ce6dafe\"},\"headline\":\"Unsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-09T14:14:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-30T19:38:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/\"},\"wordCount\":887,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/08\/unsafe-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-drinking-water-of-33-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/faucet-running.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School\",\"Elsie Sunderland\",\"exceed safety levels\",\"Harvard John A. 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33 states","subheading":"High levels of fluorinated compounds have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption","className":"is-style-square","backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","centeredImage":false,"coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaHeight":0,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","mediaWidth":0,"posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-square has-light-background has-colored-heading\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tUnsafe levels of toxic chemicals found in drinking water of 33 states\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tKaren Feldscher\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Chan School Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2016-08-09\">\n\t\t\tAugust 9, 2016\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t5 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tHigh levels of fluorinated compounds have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3214619\/\">polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl<\/a> substances (PFASs) \u2014 exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking-water supplies for 6 million people in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> (SEAS).<\/p>\n<p>The study was published Aug. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,\u201d said lead author Xindi Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS, and <a href=\"http:\/\/gsas.harvard.edu\">Graduate School of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found, because government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the U.S. population \u2014 about 100 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PFASs have been used over the past 60 years in industrial and commercial products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans. They have been linked with cancer, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">hormone disruption<\/a>, high cholesterol, and obesity. Although several major manufacturers have discontinued the use of some PFASs, the chemicals continue to persist in people and wildlife. Drinking water is one of the main routes through which people can be exposed.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked at concentrations of six types of PFASs in drinking-water supplies, using data from more than 36,000 water samples collected nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2015. They also looked at industrial sites that manufacture or use PFASs; at military fire-training sites and civilian airports where firefighting foam containing PFASs is used; and at wastewater-treatment plants. Discharges from these plants \u2014 which are unable to remove PFASs from wastewater by standard treatment methods \u2014 could contaminate groundwater. So could the sludge the plants generate, which is frequently used as fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that PFASs were detectable at the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states across the United States. Drinking water from 13 states accounted for 75 percent of the detections: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois, in order of frequency of detection.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3214619\/\">polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl<\/a> substances (PFASs) \u2014 exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking-water supplies for 6 million people in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> (SEAS).<\/p>\n<p>The study was published Aug. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,\u201d said lead author Xindi Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS, and <a href=\"http:\/\/gsas.harvard.edu\">Graduate School of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found, because government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the U.S. population \u2014 about 100 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PFASs have been used over the past 60 years in industrial and commercial products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans. They have been linked with cancer, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">hormone disruption<\/a>, high cholesterol, and obesity. Although several major manufacturers have discontinued the use of some PFASs, the chemicals continue to persist in people and wildlife. Drinking water is one of the main routes through which people can be exposed.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked at concentrations of six types of PFASs in drinking-water supplies, using data from more than 36,000 water samples collected nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2015. They also looked at industrial sites that manufacture or use PFASs; at military fire-training sites and civilian airports where firefighting foam containing PFASs is used; and at wastewater-treatment plants. Discharges from these plants \u2014 which are unable to remove PFASs from wastewater by standard treatment methods \u2014 could contaminate groundwater. So could the sludge the plants generate, which is frequently used as fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that PFASs were detectable at the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states across the United States. Drinking water from 13 states accounted for 75 percent of the detections: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois, in order of frequency of detection.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3214619\/\">polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl<\/a> substances (PFASs) \u2014 exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking-water supplies for 6 million people in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> (SEAS).<\/p>\n<p>The study was published Aug. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,\u201d said lead author Xindi Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS, and <a href=\"http:\/\/gsas.harvard.edu\">Graduate School of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found, because government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the U.S. population \u2014 about 100 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PFASs have been used over the past 60 years in industrial and commercial products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans. They have been linked with cancer, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">hormone disruption<\/a>, high cholesterol, and obesity. Although several major manufacturers have discontinued the use of some PFASs, the chemicals continue to persist in people and wildlife. Drinking water is one of the main routes through which people can be exposed.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked at concentrations of six types of PFASs in drinking-water supplies, using data from more than 36,000 water samples collected nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2015. They also looked at industrial sites that manufacture or use PFASs; at military fire-training sites and civilian airports where firefighting foam containing PFASs is used; and at wastewater-treatment plants. Discharges from these plants \u2014 which are unable to remove PFASs from wastewater by standard treatment methods \u2014 could contaminate groundwater. So could the sludge the plants generate, which is frequently used as fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that PFASs were detectable at the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states across the United States. Drinking water from 13 states accounted for 75 percent of the detections: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois, in order of frequency of detection.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"none","id":204718,"caption":"from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals\">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/watergraphic.jpg","alt":"","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/watergraphic.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204718\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href="http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/watergraphic.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204718\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href="http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/watergraphic.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204718\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href="http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Sixty-six of the public water supplies examined, serving six million people, had at least one water sample that measured at or above the EPA safety limit of 70 parts per trillion (ng\/L) for two types of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations in some locations ranged as high as 349 ng\/L for PFOA and 1,800 ng\/L for PFOS.<\/p>\n<p>The highest levels of PFASs were detected in watersheds near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants \u2014 all places where these chemicals may be used or found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese compounds are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">potent immunotoxicants<\/a> in children and recent work suggests drinking-water safety levels should be much lower than the provisional guidelines established by EPA,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/elsie-sunderland\/\">Elsie Sunderland<\/a>, senior author of the study and associate professor at both the Harvard Chan School and SEAS.<\/p>\n<p>Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Philippe Grandjean and Courtney Carignan. Funding for the study came from the Smith Family Foundation and a private donor.<\/p>\n<p><em>From the authors of the\u00a0study: We have mapped watersheds in the United States that have potentially high concentrations of PFASs based on U.S. EPA data. This\u00a0does not\u00a0mean that all drinking water supplies within the highlighted regions contain high PFAS concentrations, but that at least one sample from at least one water supply was reported to be at or above levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA\u00a0between 2013 and 2015.\u00a0However, no measurements have been made in many water supplies across the country.\u00a0We recommend increased monitoring of these contaminants in our drinking water. For more information, please contact the EPA: Cathy Milbourn,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov\">Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov<\/a>, or Monica Lee,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Lee.monica@Epa.gov\">Lee.monica@Epa.gov<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>PFASs and reduced immune response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another Harvard Chan School study, led by Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggested negative health impacts of PFAS exposure. That study looked at a group of about 600 adolescents from the Faroe Islands, an island country off the coast of Denmark. Those exposed to PFASs at a young age had lower-than-expected levels of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus, for which they had been immunized. The findings suggested that PFASs, which are known to interfere with immune function, may be involved in reducing the effectiveness of vaccines in children.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:732px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Sixty-six of the public water supplies examined, serving six million people, had at least one water sample that measured at or above the EPA safety limit of 70 parts per trillion (ng\/L) for two types of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations in some locations ranged as high as 349 ng\/L for PFOA and 1,800 ng\/L for PFOS.<\/p>\n<p>The highest levels of PFASs were detected in watersheds near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants \u2014 all places where these chemicals may be used or found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese compounds are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">potent immunotoxicants<\/a> in children and recent work suggests drinking-water safety levels should be much lower than the provisional guidelines established by EPA,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/elsie-sunderland\/\">Elsie Sunderland<\/a>, senior author of the study and associate professor at both the Harvard Chan School and SEAS.<\/p>\n<p>Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Philippe Grandjean and Courtney Carignan. Funding for the study came from the Smith Family Foundation and a private donor.<\/p>\n<p><em>From the authors of the\u00a0study: We have mapped watersheds in the United States that have potentially high concentrations of PFASs based on U.S. EPA data. This\u00a0does not\u00a0mean that all drinking water supplies within the highlighted regions contain high PFAS concentrations, but that at least one sample from at least one water supply was reported to be at or above levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA\u00a0between 2013 and 2015.\u00a0However, no measurements have been made in many water supplies across the country.\u00a0We recommend increased monitoring of these contaminants in our drinking water. For more information, please contact the EPA: Cathy Milbourn,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov\">Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov<\/a>, or Monica Lee,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Lee.monica@Epa.gov\">Lee.monica@Epa.gov<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>PFASs and reduced immune response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another Harvard Chan School study, led by Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggested negative health impacts of PFAS exposure. That study looked at a group of about 600 adolescents from the Faroe Islands, an island country off the coast of Denmark. Those exposed to PFASs at a young age had lower-than-expected levels of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus, for which they had been immunized. The findings suggested that PFASs, which are known to interfere with immune function, may be involved in reducing the effectiveness of vaccines in children.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:732px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Sixty-six of the public water supplies examined, serving six million people, had at least one water sample that measured at or above the EPA safety limit of 70 parts per trillion (ng\/L) for two types of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations in some locations ranged as high as 349 ng\/L for PFOA and 1,800 ng\/L for PFOS.<\/p>\n<p>The highest levels of PFASs were detected in watersheds near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants \u2014 all places where these chemicals may be used or found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese compounds are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">potent immunotoxicants<\/a> in children and recent work suggests drinking-water safety levels should be much lower than the provisional guidelines established by EPA,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/elsie-sunderland\/\">Elsie Sunderland<\/a>, senior author of the study and associate professor at both the Harvard Chan School and SEAS.<\/p>\n<p>Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Philippe Grandjean and Courtney Carignan. Funding for the study came from the Smith Family Foundation and a private donor.<\/p>\n<p><em>From the authors of the\u00a0study: We have mapped watersheds in the United States that have potentially high concentrations of PFASs based on U.S. EPA data. This\u00a0does not\u00a0mean that all drinking water supplies within the highlighted regions contain high PFAS concentrations, but that at least one sample from at least one water supply was reported to be at or above levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA\u00a0between 2013 and 2015.\u00a0However, no measurements have been made in many water supplies across the country.\u00a0We recommend increased monitoring of these contaminants in our drinking water. For more information, please contact the EPA: Cathy Milbourn,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov\">Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov<\/a>, or Monica Lee,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Lee.monica@Epa.gov\">Lee.monica@Epa.gov<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>PFASs and reduced immune response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another Harvard Chan School study, led by Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggested negative health impacts of PFAS exposure. That study looked at a group of about 600 adolescents from the Faroe Islands, an island country off the coast of Denmark. Those exposed to PFASs at a young age had lower-than-expected levels of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus, for which they had been immunized. The findings suggested that PFASs, which are known to interfere with immune function, may be involved in reducing the effectiveness of vaccines in children.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:732px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked with cancer and other health problems \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3214619\/\">polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl<\/a> substances (PFASs) \u2014 exceed federally recommended safety levels in public drinking-water supplies for 6 million people in the United States, according to a new study led by researchers from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> (SEAS).<\/p>\n<p>The study was published Aug. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,\u201d said lead author Xindi Hu, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, Environmental Science and Engineering at SEAS, and <a href=\"http:\/\/gsas.harvard.edu\">Graduate School of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found, because government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the U.S. population \u2014 about 100 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PFASs have been used over the past 60 years in industrial and commercial products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans. They have been linked with cancer, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">hormone disruption<\/a>, high cholesterol, and obesity. Although several major manufacturers have discontinued the use of some PFASs, the chemicals continue to persist in people and wildlife. Drinking water is one of the main routes through which people can be exposed.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked at concentrations of six types of PFASs in drinking-water supplies, using data from more than 36,000 water samples collected nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2013 to 2015. They also looked at industrial sites that manufacture or use PFASs; at military fire-training sites and civilian airports where firefighting foam containing PFASs is used; and at wastewater-treatment plants. Discharges from these plants \u2014 which are unable to remove PFASs from wastewater by standard treatment methods \u2014 could contaminate groundwater. So could the sludge the plants generate, which is frequently used as fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that PFASs were detectable at the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states across the United States. Drinking water from 13 states accounted for 75 percent of the detections: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois, in order of frequency of detection.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/watergraphic.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204718\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">from the EPA. Areas highlighted in blue indicate zip codes where PFASs were detected in one or more water samples from 2013 to 2015 that were at or above the minimum reporting levels required by the EPA. Zip codes that are elevated in PFASs do not represent all drinking water sources in that region. Individuals concerned about their drinking water should consult with their local water suppliers. More detailed maps based on the EPA data are available from the <a href="http:\/\/www.ewg.org\/enviroblog\/2015\/08\/your-drinking-water-contaminated-toxic-non-stick-chemicals">Environmental Working Group<\/a>.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p>Sixty-six of the public water supplies examined, serving six million people, had at least one water sample that measured at or above the EPA safety limit of 70 parts per trillion (ng\/L) for two types of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations in some locations ranged as high as 349 ng\/L for PFOA and 1,800 ng\/L for PFOS.<\/p>\n<p>The highest levels of PFASs were detected in watersheds near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants \u2014 all places where these chemicals may be used or found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese compounds are <a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/using-evolution-to-understand-pollution\/\">potent immunotoxicants<\/a> in children and recent work suggests drinking-water safety levels should be much lower than the provisional guidelines established by EPA,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/elsie-sunderland\/\">Elsie Sunderland<\/a>, senior author of the study and associate professor at both the Harvard Chan School and SEAS.<\/p>\n<p>Other Harvard Chan authors of the study included Philippe Grandjean and Courtney Carignan. Funding for the study came from the Smith Family Foundation and a private donor.<\/p>\n<p><em>From the authors of the\u00a0study: We have mapped watersheds in the United States that have potentially high concentrations of PFASs based on U.S. EPA data. This\u00a0does not\u00a0mean that all drinking water supplies within the highlighted regions contain high PFAS concentrations, but that at least one sample from at least one water supply was reported to be at or above levels considered safe by the U.S. EPA\u00a0between 2013 and 2015.\u00a0However, no measurements have been made in many water supplies across the country.\u00a0We recommend increased monitoring of these contaminants in our drinking water. For more information, please contact the EPA: Cathy Milbourn,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov\">Milbourn.cathy@Epa.gov<\/a>, or Monica Lee,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Lee.monica@Epa.gov\">Lee.monica@Epa.gov<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>PFASs and reduced immune response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Another Harvard Chan School study, led by Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggested negative health impacts of PFAS exposure. That study looked at a group of about 600 adolescents from the Faroe Islands, an island country off the coast of Denmark. Those exposed to PFASs at a young age had lower-than-expected levels of antibodies against diphtheria and tetanus, for which they had been immunized. The findings suggested that PFASs, which are known to interfere with immune function, may be involved in reducing the effectiveness of vaccines in children.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:732px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":358886,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2023\/05\/epas-new-rules-on-forever-chemicals-dont-go-far-enough-study-suggests\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":0},"title":"EPA\u2019s new rules on forever chemicals don\u2019t go far enough, study suggests","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard-led team finds standards don\u2019t account for major source of drinking water contamination.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PFAS testing by EPA.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/AP23078575893919.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/AP23078575893919.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/AP23078575893919.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/AP23078575893919.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":172492,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/07\/inadequate-hydration-can-lead-to-impaired-cognitive-emotional-function\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":1},"title":"Inadequate hydration can lead to impaired cognitive, emotional function","author":"harvardgazette","date":"July 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Drinking enough water is essential for physiological processes such as circulation, metabolism, temperature regulation, and waste removal. More than half of all children and adolescents in the United States are under-hydrated \u2014 probably because they\u2019re not drinking enough water, according to the first national study of its kind from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/water-fountain-girl605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/water-fountain-girl605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/water-fountain-girl605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42709,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2004\/03\/hormone-ties-diet-to-heart-health\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":2},"title":"Hormone ties diet to heart health","author":"gazetteimport","date":"March 18, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard researchers have identified a hormone produced by fat cells as a possible link between the foods and drinks we consume and the health of our hearts.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":322082,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2021\/03\/new-tool-finds-pfas-compounds-on-cape-cod\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":3},"title":"Uncovering hidden chemicals","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"March 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"New tool finds and fingerprints previously undetected PFAS compounds in watersheds on Cape Cod.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scientists test water.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/SantuitRiverWaterSampling-0108_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/SantuitRiverWaterSampling-0108_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/SantuitRiverWaterSampling-0108_2500.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/SantuitRiverWaterSampling-0108_2500.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":268297,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2019\/03\/higher-consumption-of-sugary-beverages-linked-with-increased-risk-of-mortality\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":4},"title":"Sickly sweet","author":"harvardgazette","date":"March 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A long-term study, led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that the more sugar-sweetened beverages people consumed, the greater their risk of premature death \u2014 particularly death from cardiovascular disease, and to a lesser extent from cancer.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Soda with ice in a glass","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/beverage-3548084_1920-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/beverage-3548084_1920-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/beverage-3548084_1920-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/beverage-3548084_1920-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":177073,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/12\/chemical-flavorings-found-in-e-cigarettes-linked-to-lung-disease\/","url_meta":{"origin":200575,"position":5},"title":"Chemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes linked to respiratory disease","author":"harvardgazette","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A Harvard study links chemicals used in flavored electronic cigarettes to cases of severe respiratory disease.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ecigs-655x436_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ecigs-655x436_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ecigs-655x436_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108352576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200575"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220227,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200575\/revisions\/220227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200575"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=200575"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=200575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}