Warning for NJ residents: Arsenic seeping into home water supply

⚫ A preventive tool could be making a threat even more severe

⚫ Homeowners are being advised to add a tool to their filtration system

⚫ Arsenic ingestion is not safe at any level

New research out of Rutgers University is raising a big red flag for many New Jersey homeowners.

Systems designed to keep arsenic out of a home's water supply are not doing their job perfectly, according to the research. In turn, traces of arsenic are hitting water that eventually comes out of the tap.

"No level of arsenic ingestion is without risk. It's a known human carcinogen," said Megan Rockafellow-Baldoni, a co-author of the research and an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health and justice at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

The study, which was published in the journal Water Environment Research, specifically focuses on homes that use private well water. Testing for arsenic is required in New Jersey when homes with wells are sold. If the element is detected, a treatment system can be installed.

Removing arsenic from the water

With a treatment system in place, water from the well flows through a filter before it enters the home. When the system is working, the filtered arsenic is left behind in the treatment tank, and the potable water flows into the home.

But in 71% of the 62 homes tested by Rockafellow-Baldoni and fellow researchers — homes that have wells and are equipped with an arsenic treatment system — microparticles of arsenic treatment media were found in the drinking water.

"These treatment systems may be solving one exposure problem by removing dissolved arsenic from the water, but potentially creating a new exposure, the ingestion of arsenic treatment media with high concentrations of arsenic," said Steven Spayd, co-author.

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All 62 homes tested were located in the same municipality. Researchers would not reveal in which town the testing took place, but Rockafellow-Baldoni said arsenic treatment systems are active at homes throughout the Garden State.

Arsenic, a naturally occurring element, is most prevalent in the central and northern sections of New Jersey, Rockafellow-Baldoni said.

Property owners using well water in New Jersey are encouraged to test the water once per year. The study's researchers are recommending that individuals with an arsenic filter in place also install a 5 micron sediment filter that sifts through the water after it goes through the arsenic removal tank.

"We were the first to discover arsenic treatment particles in the drinking water, but there's really a lot that we don't know," Rockafellow-Baldoni said. "We're hoping that treatment manufacturers and researchers look into this further."

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