Author: Michael Bernstein
Date: 3-30-25
Air Quality
You can check the air quality in your city at this website: https://www.airnow.gov/
As an example, here is the air quality in Philadelphia:
The air quality also shows the Particulate Matter (PM) and ozone. Particulate Matter (PM) refers to tiny particles in the air that consists of dust, soot, smoke, fumes, and bioaerosols. Particulate Matter has the capability to enter the lungs. Ozone is created when pollutants from cars, industrial processes, and other sources react with sunlight and is a major component of smog. Ozone can also irritate the lungs.
You can also check the air quality in your area on the American Lung Association website:
https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/states
Tap Water Quality
You can check the tap water quality in your area using the Environmental Working Group (EWG) calculator at this website:
In Philadelphia, PA, the EWG calculator indicates that the tap water has 35 total contaminants and 14 of them exceed EWG health guidelines. The EWG guidelines permit contaminants in parts per billion (ppb). Some of these contaminants exceed these amounts exponentially (“EWG’s Tap Water Database: What’s in Your Drinking Water?,” 2010).
The 14 that exceed EWG health guidelines include:
- Bromodichloromethane
- Chloroform
- Chromium (hexavalent)
- Dibromoacetic acid
- Dibromochloromethane
- Dichloroacetic acid
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
- Haloacetic acids (HAA9)
- Nitrate
- Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)
- Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
- Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
- Trichloroacetic acid
Some of these are disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes (TTHM) form when chlorine is used as a disinfectant and it reacts with bromide, iodide, or natural organic matter.
The trihalomethanes (TTHM) in this list of contaminants includes bromodichloromethane, chloroform, and dibromochloromethane. The haloacetic acids are also disinfection byproducts. Both the haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes are linked with cancer (Pan et al., 2014).
Some point-of-use technologies (water filters) can help remove disinfection byproducts and includes activated carbon, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis had the best filtering capability, followed by activated carbon, and then ion exchange. Both reverse osmosis and activated carbon filters were effective in removing trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids (“EWG’s Tap Water Database: Contaminants in Your Water,” 2021; Chen et al., 2021).
References:
AirNow.gov. (n.d.). www.airnow.gov. https://www.airnow.gov/?city=Philadelphia&state=PA&country=USA
Pennsylvania Air Quality Report Card. (n.d.). Www.lung.org. https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/states/pennsylvania
Environmental Working Group. (2010). EWG’s Tap Water Database: What’s in Your Drinking Water? Ewg.org; Environmental Working Group. https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/
Pan, S., An, W., Li, H., Su, M., Zhang, J., & Yang, M. (2014). Cancer risk assessment on trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids in drinking water of China using disability-adjusted life years. Journal of hazardous materials, 280, 288–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.07.080
Environmental Working Group. (2021). EWG’s Tap Water Database: Contaminants in Your Water. Ewg.org. https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/reviewed-disinfection-byproducts.php
Chen, B., Jiang, J., Yang, X., Zhang, X., & Westerhoff, P. (2021). Roles and Knowledge Gaps of Point-of-Use Technologies for Mitigating Health Risks from Disinfection Byproducts in Tap Water: A Critical Review. Water research, 200, 117265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117265
* The content provided by this article is for informational purposes only. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.
