Testing of water from several wells showed higher than ‘normal’ amounts of sodium, sulfates, hardness and… dissolved arsenic.

DURHAM — Traces of arsenic in some of the town’s wells have prompted the Department of Health to encouraging residents to test their water, according to a press release posted on the department’s website.

People who live or work around Brewster Elementary School are advised to have their water tested within the next three to six weeks. The department is also asking residents to fill out and submit a report — also on the department’s website — so officials can determine the extent of contamination.

Arsenic, which causes health problems like skin discoloration (melanosis), hardening of the skin (keratosis) and cancer, can contaminate groundwater naturally and through human activities such as mining. It can also come from pesticides and fertilizers that contain arsenic. ( source )

Health officials went on to say that although certain area wells did show elevated levels of arsenic contamination, people do not need to get alarmed just yet. They do not have enough test data to reach any firm conclusions and would like the private well owners to lend a hand and by conducting testing and reporting the results via a form currently available on the Durham Department of Health web site.

For those not aware of the dangers arsenic in drinking water may pose, take a look at some of the prior articles posted on this site:

• What is Arsenic and Can It Harm You?
   
• Study: Arsenic in Water and Diabetes
   
• Study: Exposure to Low Levels of Arsenic Lowers Influenza Resistance

Can the general public perform arsenic testing on its own safely?

Absolutely. The Arsenic Quick™ line of arsenic in water test kits offers allows users to quickly and accurately test for dissolved arsenic (As3 & As5) in drinking water in as little as 12 minutes.

Below you will find links to the three most popular Arsenic Quick™ test kits offered in our Water Test Kit Store:

For more information on Arsenic Quick Test Kits, take a look in the Arsenic Testing section of our Water Test Kit Store.

For those unfamilar with arsenic,

In a nutshell, arsenic in ground water comes from a reaction between certain types of igneous (volcanic) rock and oxygen when a water table (aquifer) drops. That reaction liberates ‘free’ arsenic and once the water table rises again, that ‘free’ arsenic gets carried away by the water.

As for whether or not arsenic in drinking water can harm a person, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated that water systems may NOT dispense drinking water with arsenic in concentrations greater than 10 ppb as of January 2006. ( source )

Getting back to the article about high arsenic levels inthe Rochester, NY area, the Democrat and Chronicle published the following article on July 2, 2009:

All private-well owners in Monroe County should test their supply for the toxic metal arsenic, the county health department said this morning.

The department is making the recommendation as a result of the discovery of arsenic in dozens of private wells in west Webster, at levels as much as four times higher than the drinking-water guideline, spokesman John Ricci said.

As the Democrat and Chronicle reported last month, officials are unsure of the source or scope of the contamination, which first came to light last fall. Some affected Webster residents had criticized the county and town governments for not publicizing the problem and reacting more aggressively to it.

The recommendation issued this morning is that each of the 5,000 or so well-owners in the county test their water at least once for arsenic. The health department also is recommending annual testing for coliform bacteria, nitrates, sodium and turbidity.

Those relatively common constituents are what well-owners typically test for on their own. Most well-owners would not have their water tested for arsenic unless warned they should do so, experts have told the Democrat and Chronicle.

There are no state or local laws that require testing of wells in Monroe County.

Private laboratories, as well as the health department, can conduct the tests. The department would charge $115 for all the recommended testing, and $80 for the arsenic work by itself, Ricci said. ( source )

While no form of at-home or field testing of drinking water will ever take the place of drinking water analysis performed by a certified water testing laboratory, the need for quality field arsenic does still exist — and the Arsenic Quick Test Kit fills that need quite well.

Several of the Arsenic Quick Test Kits have had their perfomance and accuracy verifed by the USEPA through the ETV program ( www.epa.gov/etv), testing takes no more than 12 or 13 minutes to complete, the cost per test for some of the Arsenic Quick Test Kits gets below the $10 mark, and detection levels of some kits reach levels far lower than one would expect from a field-ready arsenic test kit.

Arsenic in Water Test Kit 0, 0.3, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 20 & >20 ppb (481300-5) | Perform 5 Tests, Results in 12 Minutes	481300-5	$69.75
Arsenic in Water Test Kit 0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & >500 ppb (481396-2) | Perform 2 Tests, Results in 12 Minutes	481396-2	$15.75
Arsenic in Water Test Kit 0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & >500 ppb (481396-5) | Perform 5 Tests, Results in 12 Minutes	481396-5	$25.75
Arsenic in Water Test Kit <1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 20, 25, 30, 40, >50, >80, >120, >160 ppb (481303-5) | Perform 5 Tests, Results in 14 Minutes	481303-5	$44.99 $39.77
Arsenic in Water Test Kit <2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 24, 30, 40, 45 & >50 ppb (481297-2) | Perform 2 Tests, Results in 12 Minutes	481297-2	$25.99

Why is that?  Simple:  No laws require that their owners test them for continued water quality once they get approved for use.  That means a well which passed muster for arsenic (and other contaminants) three years ago may now contain dangerous levels of contaminants and no one knows it.

What can a private well owner do?  They COULD send their water out for laboratory analysis, which could cost them a pretty penny OR they could pick up an easy-to-use, accurate field test kit for arsenic in water like this:

Arsenic Quick Home Water Quality Test Kit

The kit above has a detection range of 0.0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, >0.5, >0.5 ppm (mg/L) and you may also use this kit for determining the arsenic concentration of soil. With a total test time of just 12 minutes, this inexpensive (< $25 USD) home water test kit makes testing well water for arsenic with EPA/ETV Test Verified Performance accuracy as easy as it will ever get.

Also, for those of you interested in testing down to even lower levels, we recommend you consider the other easy-to-use, field-ready home water test kits for arsenic in the Arsenic Testing section of the Water Test Kit Store.  Each kit shares the same reliability, accuracy and dependability as the original Arsenic Quick kit and uses the same proven chemistry.

• Arsenic Quick II — <1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 20, 25, 30, 40, >50, >80, >120, >160 ppb (micrograms/L)
   
• Arsenic Low-Range Quick — <0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, >20, >30, > 50 ppb (micrograms/L)

For those with more extensive testing needs, all the above kits (and more) come in larger sizes. Find more information on the full line of Arsenic Quick test kits. . . Here.