Attachment A

WQA Handout
   

4151 Naperville Road 

Lisle, Illinois 60532‐3696 USA 

      Phone 630‐505‐0160 

      Fax 630‐505‐9637 

www.wqa.org 

Tariffs/Water Treatment

Lead in Drinking Water 

The Potential Health Effect: Children are at highest risk. Reduced intelligence, impaired hearing and decreased 

growth in children, damage to the brain, kidneys, and bone marrow, damage to the nervous system and red blood 

cells

The Challenge: In the lead tests conducted by utilities at the end of 2017, 1,124 community water systems, 

serving 1.8 million Americans in 45 states, exceeded the U.S. EPA action level for lead. 

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found more than 40 percent of the nation’s school districts, serving 

35 million students, failed to test for lead in 2016. Of the districts that tested, 37 percent reported lead levels above 

the threshold the districts set for taking remediation. Districts took steps to remediate lead, such as installing filters, 

replacing old water fountains, and providing an alternative water source. 

Arsenic in Drinking Water 

The Potential Health Effect: Serious skin problems, endocrine disruptor, cancer (skin, bladder, lung, liver, 

prostate), harms cardiovascular and nervous system 

The Challenge: In 2015, the EPA reported water supplies for over half a million Americans over 32 states 

exceeded the agency’s maximum contaminant level for arsenic. In 2016, a National Cancer Institute study found 

elevated levels of bladder cancer in New England where arsenic was found in drinking water from private wells. 

Radium in Drinking Water 

The Potential Health Effect: Increased risk of cancer 

The Challenge: From 2010 to 2015, 158 public water systems serving 276,000 Americans in 27 states reported 

radium levels exceeding the EPA maximum contaminant level for combined radium-226 and radium-228. 

PFASs in Drinking Water 

The Potential Public Health Effect: Diagnosed high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy– 

induced hypertension, cancer (testicular, kidney) 

 

The Challenge: PFASs are federally unregulated contaminants. An analysis of drinking water systems through 

Eurofins Easton Analytical, suggests more than 1,500 systems nationwide, serving 110 million Americans, are 

contaminated with PFAS chemicals. A 2018 report from scientists at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Control, in the Department of Health and Human Services, concluded the “minimal risk level” for exposure to 

PFOA and PFOS (both PFASs), should be 7 to 10 times lower than the currently recommended health advisory level 

by the U.S. EPA. 

 

Chromium-6 in Drinking Water 

The Potential Public Health Effect: Nausea, gastrointestinal distress, stomach ulcers, skin ulcers, allergic 

reactions, kidney and liver damage, reproductive problems, lung and nasal cancer

 

The Challenge: Chromium-6 is a federally unregulated contaminant. Data from the U.S. EPA Unregulated 

Contaminant Monitoring Rule found water supplies serving 218 million Americans in all 50 states were contaminated 

with chromium-6. 
  

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Tariffs/Water Treatment

The Solution: Individuals and whole communities depend on point-of-use and/or 

point-of-entry (at the tap or whole house) water filtration and purifying treatment 

technologies to protect public health. 

  

Tariff Issue: A 25 percent tariff has been placed on filter and purifier products and 

components (HTSUS codes 8421.21.00 and 8421.99.00). A 25 percent tariff is being 

proposed on resin, a commonly used and essential component to many water filtration 

products (HTSUS code 3914.00.60). A10 percent tariff is being proposed on activated 

carbon, a commonly used and essential component to may water filtration products 

(HTSUS code 3802.10.00). 

  

Water Treatment Examples (these technologies use resin and/or activated 

carbon):