Déjà vu all over again in House District 39 as Democratic incumbent faces MAGA Republican

District 39 continues to be a culture war battleground

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

It's work like this that serve as reasons to re-elect Cotter

RI Current Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series on state legislative races, chosen based on competitiveness between candidates and relevant district issues. Of the 113 seats in the Rhode Island General Assembly, all of which are elected every two years, 24 seats feature at least two candidates on the Nov. 3 ballot.  

They are both moms in their 40s who want to lower energy bills and preserve western Rhode Island’s rural beauty.

The similarities between Democratic Rep. Megan Cotter and her Republican challenger Jasmin Roy end there.

Cotter, the two-term incumbent for House District 39, has a record of legislative accomplishments she can point to while canvassing the 100-square mile district, spanning Exeter, Richmond, and Hopkinton: adding more money to the green bond for forest and farmland preservation, spurring — and leading — a newly begun legislative panel to study how housing developments affect water supply in rural communities; and limiting self-checkouts at grocery stores to preserve jobs.

About House District 39

Represented by Rep. Megan Cotter since 2022

Geography: Richmond, Exeter and a small piece of Hopkinton

Population: 14,828 residents; 11,382 registered voters 

Partisan breakdown: 59% unaffiliated, 21% Republican; 20% Democrat

Demographics: median age: 41.1, 88.6% white; $127,552 median household income (2024)

Roy, a member of the Hopkinton Town Council, has focused her legislative campaign on denouncing various Democratic officials, including Cotter, for promoting “communism” and government overreach, including in education.

“I don’t coparent with the government,” Roy proclaimed in a June 1 episode of local conservative podcast Cumberland Unfiltered. 

A vocal Trump supporter who touts Second Amendment protections and parental rights in education, Roy’s views, as shared on her campaign website and social media, are likely to resonate with many of the voters in the district, which backed Trump in the last three presidential elections. Cotter’s predecessor, Republican Justin Price, attended the Jan. 6 rally outside the U.S. Capitol, though Price said he did not participate in the riots. 

Commission studying water supply planning and housing development in rural communities meets Wednesday with Rep. Megan Cotter chairing

Rural water commission begins work

Rep. Megan Cotter chairs commission
created by her legislation

The Special Legislative Commission to Study and Provide Recommendations on the Water Supply Planning for New Housing Developments in Rural Communities meets Wednesday for presentations by experts from the University of Rhode Island as well as representatives of the state Water Resources Board and the Charlestown Climate Resiliency Commission.

The commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. in Room 101 on the first floor of the State House. No public testimony will be taken at this meeting.

The meeting will include presentations from Sarah Racine of Charlestown Climate Resiliency Commission; commission member and Water Resources Board Acting Staff Director Hector Barreras and URI geosciences professor Brian Savage; as well as commission member and URI professor of water resources and water quality Soni Pradhanang with URI Geoscience Department Chairman Thomas Boving.

The meeting will be televised by Capitol Television, which can be seen by Spectrum subscribers on channels 15 and 61 for high definition, on channel 15 by i3Broadband viewers, and channel 34 for Verizon subscribers. Livestreaming will be available at https://www.rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx.

The commission is led by Rep. Megan L. Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton), who sponsored the legislation (2026-H 8032Aaa) establishing it to ensure groundwater capacity is considered as part of the planning process as Rhode Island works to address its housing crisis.

Groundwater must be part of development planning

Critical issue in communities without public drinking water

By Rep. Megan L. Cotter

There is no question that developing more homes is imperative to address Rhode Island’s housing crisis.

There is also no understating the importance of ensuring that every home, new or existing, has access to a consistent supply of the clean, healthy water its inhabitants need.

Water capacity is readily available for areas served by public water systems. But in rural communities that rely on private wells, like those in my district, how do we know the impact new development will have on groundwater? And how do we plan and manage this critical resource as we develop the housing we desperately need?

These are the questions I seek to answer with the new study commission I am chairing in the House. I sponsored the legislation to create the water supply planning commission because water capacity must be part of any serious conversation about housing growth.

Housing development and water supply planning shouldn't be framed as opposing goals. Rhode Island needs more housing, and all Rhode Islanders need safe drinking water. The underlying goal of our bipartisan commission — which includes experts and stakeholders from housing development, state and municipal decisionmakers and managers of water resources — is to connect these objectives and set our state on the path toward succeeding at both.

Trump EPA Takes ‘Yet Another Sledgehammer’ to Clean Water Act

“This proposal declares open season on the nation’s waterways” 

Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams

Donald Trump’s administration sparked fresh fury on Friday when it proposed a supplemental rule to further gut Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands in the wake of a “catastrophic” US Supreme Court ruling three years ago.

The supplemental proposal from the Department of the Army and Environmental Protection Agency builds on their widely criticized proposed rule from November for defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS)—both of which go further than the high court did with its 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA.

While the American Petroleum Institute and some Republicans in Congress joined Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in promoting the new proposal, environmental and public health advocates sounded the alarm.

The Trump EPA Is a Toothless Friend of Polluting Industries, Analysis Shows

Lasting damage to public health

By Peter Aldhous

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

By its own account, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is doing a fantastic job. In a March report on its performance in the last fiscal year, the agency boasted that it had concluded 2,127 civil enforcement cases, “the highest in nine years.”

That number wasn’t wrong, but it was very misleading, an Inside Climate News analysis of EPA data reveals. 

For starters, the 2025 fiscal year included the last three-and-a-half months of Joe Biden’s presidency. Comparing years beginning on Jan. 20 casts the current EPA’s record in a much less forgiving light. New lawsuits filed against the most egregious polluters—one of the strongest weapons in the EPA’s enforcement arsenal—have fallen off a cliff under the second Trump administration. 

Meanwhile, the EPA has shifted how it approaches the administrative orders that comprise the vast bulk of its enforcement. It’s imposing fewer monetary penalties in favor of orders that merely require offenders to clean up their act.

Those compliance orders are now dominated by small-scale actions against public water systems, slapping officials on the wrist for failing to file inventories of and inform customers about water service lines made of lead. 

While it’s important to address potential contamination of drinking water with a potent neurotoxin, these orders represent an administrative checkpoint in a much longer process of pipe replacement mandated by the Biden administration. They are a far cry from tough action against violators in the oil and gas industry and other major polluters and have allowed Donald Trump’s EPA to pad its numbers with activities that impose little cost on offenders.

September 10: kick-off meeting of Charlestown Climate Resilience Commission

EPA Punts Microplastics Monitoring as Scientists Warn of Health Impacts

More stuff the Trump regime doesn't want you to know

By Mike Ludwig

This article was originally published by Truthout

If you’ve ever looked at a disposable bottle of water with suspicion before tossing it into a bin, you’re far from alone. On August 8, leading scientists across globe published an editorial in The Lancet warning there is “strong evidence” that plastics harm human health and natural ecosystems at every stage of production and consumption — from fracking for the fossil fuels used to make plastics, to the microplastics leaching into our bodies and the environment. Plastic waste is projected to triple by 2060 if governments fail to act.

Much of that harm is traced back to more than 16,000 chemicals used in plastic production. Hazardous plastic chemicals include known carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, brominated flame retardants, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of highly persistence chemicals linked to a range of health harms, according to The Lancet.

Defined as pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in size, microplastics break down into even smaller nanoplastics that are invisible to the naked eye and notoriously efficient at carrying harmful chemicals into the internal organs of humans and animals. Microplastics also do not go away over time, and their release into the environment could double globally by 2040 unless current levels of pollution are reduced.

According to The Lancet, “microplastics and nanoplastics are everywhere,” from the depths of the ocean to the Arctic, in Himalayan glaciers, and in the air, food, and drinking water people consume daily. Most recently, studies have found microplastics in human lungs and fecal matter, suggesting exposure through inhalation and food, as well as in blood, carotid arteries, hearts, brains, livers, ovaries, and testes, in addition to placentas attached to fetuses.

Alarmingly, drinking water is one of top pathways of exposure to microplastics, and research suggests that tap water in United States has the some of the highest concentrations in the world. 

How volunteers and researchers at URI work together to better understand our environment

Become a citizen scientist

By Jessica Minker, Rhode Island Current

Across Rhode Island, volunteers are helping scientists answer big environmental questions, from tracking water quality in local ponds and streams to uncovering the secret lives of bobcats. These “community scientists” collect or analyze data that supports scientific research. 

They include Veronica Berounsky and Elise Torello, whose time and commitment helped researchers at the University of Rhode Island better understand our state’s unique environments.

Get involved

Learn more about these citizen science projects at these links

• About Watershed Watch
• Volunteer With Watershed Watch
• Explore Watershed Watch’s 2026 data dashboard
• Explore Narrow River’s water quality data dashboard since 1992
• About the Rhode Island Bobcat Project
• Bobcat Reporting Form

Looking for ways to take the stain out of well water

URI team to address remediation challenges of manganese in R.I. drinking water

By Krysta Murray, writer, College of Engineering.

Black and brown stains shown here in a sample sink
are classic effects of manganese.

A partnership between the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Department of Health will study manganese levels in Rhode Island’s drinking water. The project, “Statewide Support for Manganese Management in Rhode Island,” will be funded by a grant from the Emerging Contaminants in Small and Disadvantaged Communities through the health department’s Center for Drinking Water Quality and Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. It runs through Sept. 30, 2030.

Manganese is naturally occurring and comprises an appreciable portion of the earth’s crust. New England has higher concentrations of manganese than other parts of the U.S., due to glacial drifts that make up the region’s geology. Rhode Island depends on groundwater sources that have contact with the subsurface. Groundwater supplies roughly 26 percent of the state’s population with drinking water with an estimated two-thirds of that from public water supply and another third from private wells.

Bunker, left, a graduate student in the civil and environmental department and primary graduate student assigned to this project, and Joe Goodwill assess a water system in Rhode Island.

“Manganese in drinking water is a pervasive health issue and treatment challenge across Rhode Island,” said Zach Shepard, principal environmental health risk assessment toxicologist on the project for RIDOH and a URI alumnus. “Public water systems, especially small systems and private well owners, are impacted by manganese in their water. In this project, RIDOH has partnered with URI to provide technical assistance to people who are impacted by manganese.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established a lifetime human health advisory benchmark of 0.3 mg/L of manganese. In trace amounts, it is essential for human survival, metabolism, and bone health. RIDOH enforces safe manganese limits in drinking water at 0.3 mg/L for infants aged one year or younger and 1.0 mg/L for everyone older than a year. Too much manganese can lead to neurological effects, especially with long-term exposure.

Tonight, Charlestown Town Council Considers Banning Data Centers, Battery Storage Facilities

Prevention is better than damage control

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News staff

Town officials are poised this month to make Charlestown the second municipality in the state to ban data center projects, as well as utility-scale battery storage facilities.

On Aug. 11 the Town Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and potential vote on an ordinance that would prohibit both types of projects from being proposed and built in Charlestown. The ordinance was unanimously recommended for adoption by the town planning commission in July.

Data centers, even in little Rhode Island, have made waves and stirred controversy. Smithfield made headlines earlier this year when Revity Energy, a renewable energy developer based in Warwick, showed interest in potentially building a data center on the site of Hanton City, an abandoned Colonial-era village that to this day is still relatively untouched forestland.

Smithfield banned data center developments in early May, but the Hanton City development could still squeak through, since Revity Energy filed its application for it the day before the Town Council approved the ban.

“We have a lot of concerns about what’s going on in other towns,” said Deborah Carney, Charlestown’s council president, in a phone interview with ecoRI News. “We’d rather, and I’ll be blunt, nip it in the bud.”

Carney said the town is a poor choice for a data center. The massive computer facilities require huge amounts of electricity and large amounts of water to cool the systems. Charlestown, said Carney, relies mostly on septic systems and private wells.

“We have no public water, no public sewer, it would be a massive drain on local resources, the environment, the noise, the increase in utility bills, all the stuff that comes along with these data centers,” Carney said.

Included in the ordinance scheduled for consideration Tuesday is an additional prohibition on utility-scale battery storage systems. Battery storage, to date, is a little-used technology at utility scale in Rhode Island. The state only has a single 3-megawatt (MW) facility operating in Johnston, and state regulators have only recently begun drawing up regulations and tariffs to make the projects economical.

Like data centers, battery storage has found itself at the center of public controversy. It works by drawing power from the grid when people use less electricity, like at night, and discharges power back into the grid at peak times, like in the afternoon and early evening.

Earlier this year, Green Development LLC, a Cranston-based developer of ground-mounted solar arrays, proposed building a lithium-ion phosphate battery facility that could store up to 208 MW of power in North Kingstown.

The project was proposed on 10 acres on Callahan Road in the Quonset Business Park, a commercial and industrial development area operated by the Quonset Development Corporation (QDC), where state officials often exercise more control and authority than local officials.

Residents of North Kingstown have expressed repeated concerns over developments in Quonset, including an active asphalt plant that began operations last year. Residents also expressed concerns about the battery-storage facility and the possibility of fires from the lithium-ion batteries themselves.

Carney had originally floated the idea of banning battery storage systems back in May, after a resident sent her some information on the systems, and after another council member suggested the data center ban, the town solicitor merged the two bans into a single ordinance.

“After reading it, I said yeah this is something we should look at prohibiting in Charlestown,” Carney said.

The ordinance excludes batteries used by consumer products, electric vehicle batteries, and the battery packs that often come along with rooftop solar panel installations. If passed, it would be the first-of-its-kind ban for battery storage in Rhode Island.

The Town Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Tiny plastics in drinking water may be making dangerous bacteria stronger

Can plastics make you sicker?

Virginia Tech

Nanoplastics are already a concern because people may ingest them directly, but new research points to another possible danger. These tiny plastic particles may also make harmful bacteria more difficult to control.

In a study published in Water Research, Virginia Tech researcher Jingqiu Liao and an international team found that nanoplastics can interact with environmental microbes in ways that may create indirect risks to human health, especially through drinking water systems.

"It is very important to better understand the adverse effects of the nanoplastics on human health, and not just in humans but also in the environment, which indirectly influences human health," said Liao, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. "The nanoplastics can make the antimicrobial-resistant pathogens better survive, which could be harmful to the environment and would have public health implications."

Nanoplastics May Complicate Water Treatment

The researchers reported that bacteria exposed to nanoplastics can become more resistant to disinfectants. That could create serious problems for water treatment facilities and distribution networks designed to keep drinking water safe.

"When the nanoplastics interact with the biofilm and the bacteria inside them, they can strengthen the biofilm and make it more resistant to any kind of measures that are going to keep the water clean," said Liao, who is also an affiliate with Fralin Life Sciences Institute's Global Change Center.

Jingqiu Liao is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Photo by Peter Means for Virginia Tech.

Nanoplastics are a smaller category of microplastics. They range from about one to 1,000 nanometers in size and cannot be seen with the naked eye. In this study, the researchers examined how these particles affect the formation of biofilms inside drinking water systems.

The Richest 10% Cause up to $5.7 Trillion in Environmental Damage Each Year

Anyone surprised?

By University of Oxford

A relatively small share of the world’s population may be causing environmental damage on the same financial scale as the global effort needed to repair it. 

According to a new study, the highest-consuming 10% of people generate an estimated $1.7 trillion to $5.7 trillion in environmental harm each year, several times more, at the central and upper estimates, than current international commitments for climate action and biodiversity conservation combined.

Published in Communications Sustainability, the analysis places a monetary value on damage across four major planetary boundaries: climate change, biodiversity loss, nutrient pollution, and freshwater use. 

The findings offer a stark measure of how heavily environmental pressures are concentrated among the world’s most resource-intensive consumers.

Despite recent rain, Rhode Island remains in drought watch

Local water use restrictions remain in effect

By Nolan Page, Rhode Island Current

Classic cartoon available for purchase HERE.

Recent rainfall hasn’t been enough to pull Rhode Island out of its drought watch, and the July heat hasn’t worsened conditions enough to warrant the next stage of drought monitoring, the state’s Drought Steering Committee determined Tuesday morning.

Gov. Dan McKee announced the state’s first drought watch since 2002 on June 25. More severe than an advisory, a drought watch is the second of four designations in the state’s drought plan, followed by a warning and an emergency. The stages are issued based on the committee’s recommendation, drawing from three major indicators of drought: precipitation, groundwater and stream flow. 

Meredith Brady, the committee’s chair, opened Tuesday’s meeting by saying they were “likely not to make a change one way or the other this month.” But while the stage of the drought didn’t shift in the past month, its conditions did. 

Presentations from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Weather Service revealed a common theme: Recent rains haven’t reversed the trend of below-average levels of precipitation, groundwater and stream flow. Presenters from the organizations added that it took months to get into the drought, and it will take months to get out of it.

Charlestown Conservation Commission holds July 23 on the safety of your well water

Cool, crisp, clear … safe to drink?

Kristen Curry

In Rhode Island, private well owners are responsible for
testing and maintaining the quality of their own well water.

To provide residents with information on private well water testing, treatment, and maintenance, research associate Lisa Hollister with the University of Rhode Island’s Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program and private well specialist Shannon Nakama with the Rhode Island Department of Health Private Wells Program will hold a free program on Thursday, July 23, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cross’ Mills Public Library, 4417 Old Post Road, in Charlestown. 

This program is held in partnership with the Charlestown Conservation Commission and the Cross’ Mills Public Library. Attendees will learn about well maintenance and protection, the importance of regular well water testing, and resources available to interpret results.

Watchaug Pond declared OK after harmful algae bloom

Low algae levels and no toxins detected

Missed opportunity: We could have sold
"Watchaug Green" samples as souvenirs

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) have lifted the recommendation to avoid recreational activities at Watchaug Pond in Charlestown. 

The harmful algae bloom (HAB) caused by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) has cleared. Recent water testing laboratory results show algae levels are low and no toxins were detected at multiple locations, meeting safety guidelines. 

RIDOH and DEM are advising people to avoid contact with Cunliff Lake at Roger Williams Park in Providence due to harmful algae blooms (HABs). Water samples were collected by DEM and tested by RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories. 

All recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking, is high risk to health and recommended to be avoided at this location. This HAB is caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals. 

RIDOH and DEM Lift Advisory at Worden Pond. No word on Watchaug Pond

Now let's deal with the Reflecting Pool

Trump says vandals spoiled his multi-million dollar "fix"

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) have lifted the recommendation to avoid recreational activities at Worden Pond in South Kingstown. 

The harmful algae bloom (HAB) caused by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) has cleared.

 Recent water testing laboratory results show algae levels are low and no toxins were detected at multiple locations, meeting safety guidelines. 

HAB conditions can change quickly. Water with HABs may exhibit bright to dark green scum along the shoreline with thick, floating algal mats on the surface. The water may resemble green paint, pea soup, or green cottage cheese. 

If you see water in this condition, keep people and pets away from it. Toxins may persist in the water after a blue-green algae bloom is no longer visible. 

To report suspected blue-green algae blooms, contact DEM’s Office of Water Resources at DEM.OWRCyano@dem.ri.gov  or call 401-222-4700, Press 3, and select Office of Water Resources. If possible, send a photograph of the reported algae bloom. For more information and the Cyanobacteria Tracker Dashboard that lists current advisories and data, visit: www.dem.ri.gov/bluegreen

What do Charlestown’s Watchaug Pond and the Reflecting Pool in Washington have in common?

Dangerous algae bloom

RIDOH and DEM Recommend Avoiding Contact with Watchaug Pond

This morning in DC, workers poured bottles of peroxide
into the Reflecting Pool just days after the $14 million
repair job ordered by Donald Trump was completed.

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are advising people to avoid contact with Watchaug Pond in Charlestown due to harmful algae blooms (HABs).  Water samples were collected by DEM and tested by RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories.

All recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking, is high risk to health and recommended to be avoided at this location. This HAB is caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals.

Use caution in all areas of Watchaug Pond as HABs can move locations in ponds and lakes. Initial samples collected at Watchaug Pond exceeded the advisory threshold. People should not drink untreated water or eat fish from affected waterbodies. Pet owners should not allow pets to drink or swim in this water. 

This is going to take a LOT off peroxide!

This advisory recommendation remains in effect until further notice. To confirm the water is free from toxins and high cell counts, water samples will be collected to lift the advisory when the bloom has cleared from the affected waterbody.

Skin contact with water containing HABs can cause symptoms such as skin rashes, sore throat and irritation of the eyes and nose. Swallowing water containing HABs can cause stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. More serious, but less common health effects associated with swallowing contaminated water may affect the liver and nervous system, cause irregular heartbeat, dizziness, or seizures.

Young children, pets and people with certain underlying health conditions or who are immunocompromised may be at greater risk for illness. Anyone who experiences symptoms after contact with water containing HABs should contact a healthcare provider.

If you or your pet come into contact with an algal bloom (HAB):

• Rinse your skin with clean water right away.
• Shower and wash your clothes when you get home.
• If your pet was exposed, wash it with clean water immediately and don’t let it lick algae from its fur.
• Call a vet if your pet shows signs of illness like tiredness, no eating, vomiting, diarrhea or other symptoms within a day.
• If you feel sick after contact, call a healthcare provider.

Affected waters may exhibit bright to dark green scum along the shoreline, with thick algae floating on the surface. It may resemble green paint, pea soup, or green cottage cheese. If you see water like this, people and pets should avoid contact with the water.

To report suspected blue-green algae blooms, contact DEM’s Office of Water Resources at DEM.OWRCyano@dem.ri.gov  or call 401-222-4700, Press 3, and select Office of Water Resources. If possible, send a photograph of the reported algae bloom. For more information and the Cyanobacteria Tracker Dashboard that lists current advisories and data, visit: www.dem.ri.gov/bluegreen

Health alert for Worden Pond

RIDOH and DEM Recommend Avoiding Contact with Worden Pond

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are advising people to avoid contact with Worden Pond in South Kingstown due to harmful algae blooms (HABs).

All recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking, is high risk to health and recommended to be avoided at this location. 

This HAB is caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals. 

Toxins and/or high cell counts have been detected by the RIDOH State Health Laboratory from water samples collected by DEM at several locations.

Use caution in all areas of Worden Pond as HABs can move locations in ponds and lakes. People should not drink untreated water or eat fish from affected waterbodies. Pet owners should not allow pets to drink or swim in this water. This advisory recommendation remains in effect until further notice.

Skin contact with water containing blue-green algae can cause irritation of the skin, nose, eyes, and throat. Symptoms from ingestion of water can include stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Less common symptoms can include dizziness, headache, fever, liver damage, and nervous system damage. 

Young children and pets are at higher risk for health effects associated with HABs because they are more likely to swallow water when they are in or around bodies of water. People who have had contact with these ponds and experience those symptoms should contact their healthcare provider.

If you or your pet come into contact with an algal bloom (HAB):

URI studies drugs in the water

URI Professor Studies Effects of Pharmaceutical Pollution on Wastewater Systems

By Ellie Sennhenn / ecoRI News contributor

One University of Rhode Island researcher is studying the health and environmental effects of pharmaceutical pollution from over-the-counter and prescribed medications designed to treat ailments from headaches to infections.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a diverse group of chemicals that include all drugs (both prescription and over-the-counter medications) and non-medicinal consumer chemicals, such as the fragrances in lotions and soaps and the ultraviolet filters in sunscreens, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. These compounds are considered contaminants because they are released into water systems through sewage or agricultural runoff.

Finding out what happens when these drugs enter the environment is the premise of Thomas Boving’s recent research into PPCPs. These pollutants occur at low concentrations in soil and groundwater, according to Boving, chair of the University of Rhode Island Department of Geosciences. However, seemingly insignificant measurements can accumulate over time, creating potential adverse health effects, he said.

“These environments become breeding grounds for these bacteria, and if they spread, then we have a real problem,” Boving said.

One possible effect is antimicrobial resistance, according to Boving, which occurs when there is an overuse or misuse of antimicrobial compounds designed to treat or prevent infections, such as antibiotics, antivirals and antiparasitics.

Salty drinking water could be increasing your blood pressure – people living in coastal areas are most at risk

Some Charlestown well water already affected by sea level rise

Rajiv Chowdhury, Florida International University

When people consider what causes high blood pressure, they often think of lifestyle factors, such as eating salty foods, lack of exercise or smoking. However, an unexpected source of salt might also be raising blood pressure for millions of people: the water they drink.

As sea levels rise, more and more salt water tends to infiltrate global freshwater sources. I’m a public health researcher, and this raised a question for my team: Could saltwater intrusion be increasing the risk of high blood pressure worldwide?

In our analysis of existing research, we found that people exposed to saltier drinking water tend to have significantly higher blood pressure and a greater risk of hypertension. This link, as expected, appears strongest in coastal areas where seawater is increasingly contaminating freshwater supplies.

Our findings highlight an often overlooked environmental factor in cardiovascular disease that could become more problematic as climate change accelerates.