Texas Not Among States With Super High Water Contamination

Almost every state has some degree of arsenic in its water supply with only a couple showing zero traces. Texas is just barely outside the acceptable range.

There's arsenic in almost all water and the United States Environmental Protection Agency has deemed less than 10 micrograms of arsenic per liter to be "safe".

The amount of arsenic in Texas water is in the 10 - 99 micrograms per liter category, putting us at the 2nd safest level. On paper anyway. Poison is poison at any level. Right?

Having less than 10 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water is "safe" according to the EPA but other experts say that number is misleading. For example, Vasilis Vasiliou, (chair and professor of environmental health sciences at Yale), disagrees.

"The 10 micrograms per liter limit is a political and economic compromise, not a health-based standard, and likely insufficient to fully protect the public, especially over a lifetime of exposure" - Newsweek

READ MORE: Receipts Are Toxic Too

According to this graph, every state has arsenic in its water with Utah and California being among the states that have the most arsenic in their water.

What Does Arsenic Do?

Cancer.org says breathing it can cause a sore throat and irritate lungs. Swallowing it can bring on nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and skin rashes among other things.

• Exposure to high enough amounts of arsenic can be fatal.
• Exposure to lower levels of arsenic over longer periods of time can cause skin changes, liver and kidney damage, and a shortage of red and white blood cells, which can lead to fatigue and an increased risk of infections.

There's also a laundry list of cancers associated with long term exposure including lung, bladder and skin cancer as well as cancer of the kidney, liver and prostate.

Can You Remove Arsenic From Water?

Yep.