To: Dewey Bartlett, Mayor, The TMUA, and Tulsa City Council
STOP the use of chloramine in The Tulsa Area Water!
We, the undersigned, are asking you for a moratorium on the use of chloramine in drinking water in Tulsa until more studies are done regarding the acute and long term effects of chloramine and it's byproducts as well as the impact on our homes, aquatic life and watersheds.
The safety assurances you have given Tulsans are solely based on the regulated byproducts of chloramine. The unregulated byproducts have only recently have begun to been studied! Even the EPA website itself reveals that these studies are showing that the unregulated byproducts of chloraminated water are "highly genotoxic" and "cause adverse health effects".
• You say chloramine has been safely used for 90 years, yet safety on humans wasn’t studied until recently. The current growing body of scientific research is indicating that the use of chloramines is mutagenic, cytotoxic and carcinogenic.
• Chloramine is known to leach lead into the water supply. Multiple children in Washington D.C. and North Carolina are known to have suffered lead poisoning from chloraminated water.
• Chloramine eats rubber fittings in plumbing and is known to damage seals and parts within the water distribution system, including within homes.
• Chloramine is toxic to fish and amphibians in our ecosystem, down to the earthworm.
It appears that we are fast approaching the time when science will conclude that choramine is unsafe for humans just as they realized, too late, that lead paint asbestos and thalidomide were unsafe. Don’t expose Tulsans to these risks when you have the alternative, safe, and affordable option of carbon filtering to meet the EPA 2012 guidelines for Tulsa. We know that you have 3-4 years time before the compliance date-take that time to consider what scientists are discovering: the cytotoxic, genotoxic, carcinogenic, and other adverse health effects of chloramines.
We ask you to consider what the science is showing about the unregulated byproducts of chloramine and take the responsible action to protect the citizens under your watch. Please STOP the use of chloramine in Tulsa now.
The safety assurances you have given Tulsans are solely based on the regulated byproducts of chloramine. The unregulated byproducts have only recently have begun to been studied! Even the EPA website itself reveals that these studies are showing that the unregulated byproducts of chloraminated water are "highly genotoxic" and "cause adverse health effects".
• You say chloramine has been safely used for 90 years, yet safety on humans wasn’t studied until recently. The current growing body of scientific research is indicating that the use of chloramines is mutagenic, cytotoxic and carcinogenic.
• Chloramine is known to leach lead into the water supply. Multiple children in Washington D.C. and North Carolina are known to have suffered lead poisoning from chloraminated water.
• Chloramine eats rubber fittings in plumbing and is known to damage seals and parts within the water distribution system, including within homes.
• Chloramine is toxic to fish and amphibians in our ecosystem, down to the earthworm.
It appears that we are fast approaching the time when science will conclude that choramine is unsafe for humans just as they realized, too late, that lead paint asbestos and thalidomide were unsafe. Don’t expose Tulsans to these risks when you have the alternative, safe, and affordable option of carbon filtering to meet the EPA 2012 guidelines for Tulsa. We know that you have 3-4 years time before the compliance date-take that time to consider what scientists are discovering: the cytotoxic, genotoxic, carcinogenic, and other adverse health effects of chloramines.
We ask you to consider what the science is showing about the unregulated byproducts of chloramine and take the responsible action to protect the citizens under your watch. Please STOP the use of chloramine in Tulsa now.
Why is this important?
The TMUA, a board composed of the mayor and 6 unelected people have ignored the recommendations that the nationally renowned water expert, Bob Bowcock presented to Tulsa for a SAFE, effective and affordable option for Tulsa to meet the new EPA water guidelines. The TMUA chose to use chloramine instead, in spite of public outcry and new information about the dangers of chloramine. While the TMUA assures us that chlroamine is safe, it is known to damage health and property. Current research is showing that the unregulated byproducts of chlroamine damages DNA, cells, is carcinogenic and has multiple adverse health affects. It is know to leach lead into the water. Chloramine cannot be boiled out, distilled out or evaporated out and filters like reverse osmosis won't remove it!