Washoe County still backing away from arsenic reduction

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 4:35 a.m.

Commissioner Ted Short said on Wednesday many Westerners have been drinking arsenic-laden water for years without getting sick.

Commissioners say they can't support the proposed 5 parts per billion standard for arsenic until more studies on arsenic's health effects are done in the United States, preferably in the West, where the greatest concentrations exist.

Short said the arsenic cleanup could devastate Nevada and many of its counties if the EPA goes to 5 ppb.

The current standard for arsenic in drinking water is 50 ppb. Fallon has been measured at 100 ppb.

The EPA does not have an estimate of the number of people who would be saved each year from lung, skin and prostate cancers if the standard were lowered.

A 1999 study of 4,058 people exposed to elevated arsenic levels in Millard County, Utah, showed fewer bladder and lung cancer deaths than the national average. However, it did show excessive prostate cancer deaths.