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SD water contains high levels of lithium, study says, as research into health effects continues. • South Dakota Searchlight

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Much of South Dakota’s drinking water contains more naturally occurring lithium than the federal government currently recommends as a healthy level, according to figures in a study. recent research released by the US Geological Survey.

Lead researcher Melissa Lombard hopes the data will contribute to further research.

“Lithium is increasingly recognized as potentially harmful to human health,” Lombard told South Dakota Searchlight. “But first we need to determine how much people are exposed to through drinking water and how different concentration levels might affect them. This is a first step in the process and will support public health studies.”

The Environmental Protection Agency does not currently regulate lithium, but is collecting information for possible future regulations. In the meantime, the agency has established a “health reference level,” which indicates that concentrations above 10 micrograms per liter can be unhealthy. The agency emphasizes that health reference levels “are not definitive determinations” and that the science on lithium’s health effects “is still evolving.”

The USGS study used data collected from more than 18,000 drinking water wells in the United States between 1989 and 2020. South Dakota was among 10 states in the Western or Great Plains with widespread concentrations above 30 micrograms per liter — three times the EPA’s health reference level.

More recent data shows about 85% of South Dakota drinking water samples Measurements taken in 2023 by the US Environmental Protection Agency showed lithium concentrations above health reference levels.

Lithium is used in medications to treat bipolar disorder and depression, and low levels of naturally occurring lithium in drinking water have been linked to positive health effects, such as reduced suicide mortality and other mental health benefits, according to the USGS. But lithium has also been linked to potentially negative outcomes with autism and thyroid hormone levels.

A map showing estimated lithium concentrations in groundwater supplying public and private drinking water sources across the country. The estimates come from a study led by the USGS. (Courtesy of USGS)
A map showing estimated lithium concentrations in groundwater supplies for public and private drinking water sources across the country. The estimates come from a study led by the U.S. Geological Survey. (Courtesy of USGS)

Data collected by the South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems for the EPA showed that the drinking water tested in Wall contained the state’s highest lithium level, at 238 micrograms per liter.

West River/Lyman-Jones Rural Water System operates four wells in the Wall, Quinn and Creighton areas that provide approximately 15 percent of the system’s water supply. The system also draws water from the Missouri River via the Mni Wiconi pipeline.

West River/Lyman-Jones Manager Jake Fitzgerald said in an emailed statement that the system meets EPA testing requirements and plans to share the results in the annual water quality report. He said customers should contact their doctor if they have any concerns about health implications from test results.

He said his home is connected to the system, “and my family and I drink water straight from the tap every day and will continue to do so.”

Fitzgerald added that if the EPA establishes a national primary drinking water standard for lithium, the water system will “evaluate our options” to address it and ensure its drinking water meets the standard.

Levels of 100 micrograms per liter or higher were also reported in the city of Huron, Britton-based Brown-Day-Marshall Rural Water System, Beresford-based South Lincoln Rural Water System and the city of Aberdeen.

A drinking water system in Utah has the highest reported lithium level in the country, at 960 micrograms per liter, according to EPA data.

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