With wildfires raging in the West, experts are expressing concerns around current water safety rules, according to reporting from The New York Times. Wildfires can have a direct impact on municipal water systems, releasing toxic chemicals and causing structural damage. Compounds such as benzene, naphthalene, methylene chloride, chrysene, and benzo fluoranthene can be found in drinking water, some of which have been found to cause cancer. Current regulations in California are designed for day-to-day activities, and tests are generally only utilized to identify routine contaminants. Some argue that regulations don’t take wildfire disasters into account, but should.
Read more on this story from The New York Times.
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