Officials not worried over toxin found in Quincy's drinking water

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NO HAZARD? Officials not worried over toxin found in Quincy's drinking water

By SUE REINERT

The Patriot Ledger

A chemical linked to cancer and genetic damage has been found in drinking

water in 36 communities, including Quincy and Norwood, but authorities say

there's no reason to worry.

The substance, which has a long chemical name but is known as Mutagen X, or

MX, was found by researchers from the Harvard University School of Public

Health.

They tested tap water in 36 towns in 1997 and 1998 and reported their

results last year in a scientific journal. Harvard disclosed the study in a

university publication last month.

Researchers promised not to disclose the towns in the study in return for

getting cooperation from local officials, said lead author J.

. But it was clear from the report that some of the towns receive

water from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and an MWRA

spokesman confirmed that.

State and federal environmental officials said they will not seek the names

of the communities.

" Obviously the issue is a concern but not to the point where we find it to

be useful, " said Department of Environmental Protection spokesman

Coletta Jr. " We want to keep an eye on it. It's really not a health hazard. "

Mutagens are substances that damage genes and Mutagen X has been described

as one of the most powerful mutagens ever tested on bacteria in the

laboratory.

However, state and federal officials said yesterday there is little

scientific information on human health effects of Mutagen X.

" We simply don't have enough information to regulate the contaminant, " said

Reilly, Massachusetts drinking water program coordinator in the Boston

office of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA is studying Mutagen X at laboratories in Cincinnati and Atlanta,

Reilly said.

California, which has one of the strictest drinking water laws in the

country, regulates Mutagen X as a cancer-causing substance.

Some of the levels in Massachusetts exceed the California limit, calculated

at 55 parts per trillion assuming that a person drank two liters of water a

day.

Quincy, Norwood and the other MWRA communities did not exceed the California

maximum, according to figures from the MWRA.

California cited studies in Finland linking the chemical to tumors in rats.

It also described research establishing that Mutagen X damages genetic

material in laboratory tests.

The Harvard researchers found Mutagen X at parts-per-trillion levels, but

some samples tested higher than any reported before in the United States,

Finland and Japan.

" It shows there are higher levels than anticipated, " said from an EPA

lab in Cincinnati where he is doing post-doctoral work.

He added that it's " hard to gauge " the health effects because " health

effects research is pretty limited. "

" It's really the first step, " he said of his study. " We have a sense now of

what might be occurring in some of the (water) systems. We need to do more

of this. "

Reilly said the EPA has not asked Harvard researchers for the names of the

communities where Mutagen X turned up.

The agency doesn't need the information because " this is a generalized

problem with anybody who chlorinates their water supply, " he said.

MWRA spokesman Yeo said Boston and five Boston-area communities

that get all their water from the agency, including Quincy and Norwood, had

lower levels of Mutagen X than several other towns.

The MWRA towns all tested lower than 33 parts per trillion, he said. The

highest level in the study was 80 parts per trillion.

Yeo said the MWRA's new water treatment plant, under construction in

Marlboro, would reduce the level of Mutagen X and other contaminants that

form when water is chlorinated.

The new plant will disinfect water with ozone instead of chlorine. The

Harvard research found that treating water with ozone reduced the level of

Mutagen X.

The plant is expected to begin operating in 2004, Yeo said.

He said the agency is interested in any research findings on Mutagen X as

well as other water contaminants.

Sue Reinert may be reached at sreinert@...

Copyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger

Transmitted February 13, 2002