A new report finds 122-million Americans drink water with high levels of cancer-causing chemicals, frequently from runoff at livestock factory farms. Researchers at the Environmental Working Group looked at water systems from 2019 to 2023. They found six-thousand water systems at some point had unsafe levels of "trihalomethane," which disinfects water that's been contaminated with manure. The city of Baltimore and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission tested above the E-P-A limit for the chemical a combined 255 times. Anne Schechinger, with the Environmental Working Group, says this pollution affects everyone in the state.
"You can live miles and miles from ag, but still have ag pollutants in your drinking water. So you might see this report and think, ‘Well I live in a city. I’m not anywhere near ag.’ That doesn’t mean that livestock manure is not impacting your drinking water."
Higher trihalomethane levels in drinking water can cause colon or bladder cancer, heart defects, and stillbirths.
Schechinger says President Donald Trump could reduce pollution by unfreezing funds that help farmers use healthier agricultural practices. Funds are currently frozen as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency tries to cut spending that it views as wasteful.
 "We can be putting more conservation practices on farm fields, like stream buffers or grass waterways, that really stop the flow of manure into water. That’s something that was intended for this year, but the Trump administration has frozen the majority of agricultural conservation funding."
Schechinger says consumers can protect themselves by getting a water filter. Filters can help take chemical runoff out of drinking water.