About 14.1 million Americans routinely consume drinking water containing pesticides, including the weed killers, atarzine, alachlor, and simazine. People in 121 Midwestern towns and cities face an elevated risk of cancer as a result of drinking water containing five farm pesticides. Drinking Water in Midwest Has Pesticides, report says, The New York Times, October 18, 1994.
Water is the foundation that human survival is built on.
Therefore, we must take all threats to our drinking water supply seriously. Farm runoff containing agricultural chemicals and manure may lead to contamination of drinking water supplies with fungicide, insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, containing phosphorous and nitrogen. If you drink from the tap, there are several recent studies you should know about because they may change the way you think about your water. Emerging evidence Indicates that fertilizers in water supplies may cause cancer. Studies in China involving populations exposed to nitrates in their drinking water have suggested links between nitrate contamination and stomach and liver cancer.