Water is key to human survival; however, the water that comes out of the campus faucets isn’t the element in its purest form. It’s treated with chemicals at a water plant, and runoff does have the capacity to contaminate it. Ecology professor Dr. Jonathan Micancin looked through the annual water quality report for Carlinville and was concerned by the levels of an agricultural herbicide called atrazine.
Micancin became associated with the topic of atrazine through a book he uses in his ecology class, “Ecology” by Michael Cain, William Bowman and Sally Hacker. Micancin discussed how herbicides can harm the hormonal pathways and immune systems in frogs and how these pathways are very similar in humans. This correlation suggests that long time exposure to water contaminated with agricultural run-off could negatively affect humans. However, there is no general scientific consensus that atrazine has negative health effects on humans.
Micancin pointed out that despite the lawsuit between Carlinville and several other Midwestern cities against Syngenta, a major agricultural company, regarding atrazine in 2012, by 2015 Carlinville made no mention of atrazine on the water worksheet it sent to the public. Additionally during 2015, the reported range of simazine levels in the water was 0-0, but the highest recorded value was 1. These reports contradict one another. Simazine is another agricultural herbicide of the triazine class like atrazine. Micancin believes the Carlinville made a mistake by reporting this contradiction to the public.
Carlinville water plant foreman Jim Knight stated that the plant hasn’t had as much of an issue with atrazine. When he started, the lawsuit was such a large ordeal that it was necessary to test atrazine levels about four times a month. Eventually, the plant was testing for the herbicide once a month. Knight acknowledged that on a quarterly basis, the atrazine levels are checked and they have come back as “nill.” He added, “We send our samples to independent labs who answer directly to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). If there was a concern, then the EPA would let us know.”
Knight did state that manganese (an element that can be toxic in high concentrations) levels were more of a concern for the plant at this period of time. He noted that this issue was being addressed with sodium chromate (a chemical used to neutralize the potentially toxic effects of manganese). Carlinville released a statement on Sept. 9 regarding the manganese levels. It said, “The levels of manganese at the water plant have dropped to a level that should allow for the use of products containing bleach without any adverse effects.”