Then there is the matter of treatment costs. Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman of that state agrees. He is supporting Albuquerque in seeking a lowering of the standard to 13, which doesn t sound like much of a concession. Overseeing the project is James J. Reisa, head of the NRC s board on environmental studies and toxicology, who says the exercise is worth doing because more than 200 additional studies have been carried out on arsenic toxicology over the past two years. He says the NRC will recommend no standard and keep as far away from the regulatory aspects as possible.
Cancer often takes a long time to develop.
What is likely to happen is that the arguments will go on and on whatever EPA ends up proposing. What will most be needed, probably, are ways for municipalities and rural areas to get help in paying for treatment. EPA has plenty of information on remediation at all scales of water systems. Many are quite cheap. So arsenic in America is a fairly hot environmental and public health topic.