EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing Figure 14.2  Number of cases of giardiasis in Ireland 2004-2018 (Source: HSE HPSC, 2019c) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year No. of Cases 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Trihalomethane contamination THMs are formed when chlorine used in the disinfection of raw water reacts with naturally occurring organic matter in the water. The European Commission currently has an infringement case against Ireland because of the number of water supplies failing to meet the THM standard. In May 2020, the Commission issued a reasoned opinion stating that Ireland has failed to take the measures necessary to ensure THM compliance in 31 public water supplies and 13 private group water schemes. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is coordinating Ireland’s response. Lead contamination Lead, which is a toxic compound, is found in drinking water when it dissolves from lead pipework, mains connections and plumbing fittings. The standard for lead in drinking water is 10 µg/l. Lead is very harmful to the development of the nervous system and can cause long-term damage to health. In June 2015, the Irish Government published a National Lead Strategy, which is overseen by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. While Irish Water is carrying out works to replace lead pipes and connections, the full extent of lead pipework in public buildings, such as schools and hospitals, and in state-owned buildings, such as local authority housing, is still unknown and there are no plans reported to carry out replacement works. Action is needed in this area to eliminate lead from drinking water. Pesticide contamination The term ‘pesticides’ includes a wide range of products, but in Ireland it is herbicides that pose the greatest threat to drinking water. The most commonly found pesticide is MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid), which is used for rush control in grassland. Pesticides should not be present in drinking water and the Drinking Water Regulations S.I. 122/2014 (as amended) set standards that are considerably below the levels that would affect people’s health. The drinking water standards for pesticides were exceeded in 27 supplies in 2019, which is an improvement in compliance with the standards for pesticides compared with 34 supplies with pesticides exceedances in 2018 and 48 supplies in 2017. There is some cause for optimism, as the EU statistical office, Eurostat, reports a 28 per cent reduction in pesticide sales in Ireland in the years 2011-2018 (Eurostat, 2020). Emerging contaminants Although the impact of certain individual chemicals and biological vectors is known, people are also exposed in their daily lives to novel pathogens and complex mixtures of a wide variety of environmental chemicals. Concerns have grown about the ‘cocktail effect’, namely mixtures of chemicals that are present in the environment at low concentrations that, in combination, may cause harm (e.g. Quinn et al. , 2015; Hartmann et al. , 2018). Contaminants of concern that are undergoing assessment through research include nano-particles, persistent pharmaceuticals and per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), which are a group of more than 4700 widely used synthetic chemicals that accumulate over time in humans and in the environment (EEA, 2019a), most of which are little understood. The EPA water monitoring programmes include those for the Sentinel monitoring of a wide range of substances, many of which would be considered substances of emerging concern. The emerging risks associated with chemical exposure is addressed in more detail later in this chapter. 359