No matter what we do for a living, and no matter where we live, we all drink water. And we need to ensure that the water we are consuming is safe. Some water contains Benzene, and Benzene is not good to consume.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is "established and accepted" that exposure to benzene causes leukemia and a variety of other diseases in humans. This is pretty heavy language coming from the government since the government tends to be non-committal when it comes to saying that anything causes cancer.

The more likely language is that something is suspected of causing cancer or that it may cause cancer or that it has been linked to cancer. But stating that something is accepted as a cancer-causing agent is a rather large statement from the government. Clearly, Benzene exposure needs to be avoided. And for home dwellers, that usually means they must guard their drinking water.

Unfortunately, some people do encounter benzene. Probably the most common way in which this occurs is through the release of gasoline from underground storage tanks at gas stations, from which it flows into underground drinking water aquifers. But, there are other exposure pathways ways. Many Benzene containing industrial discharges have also found their way into drinking water.

Benzene is clear, colorless and highly flammable. To give you an idea of what the government thinks about Benzene, consider this. In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is the law that generally indicates what kinds of chemicals can be found in our drinking water and still have the drinking water be considered to be safe.

The "goal" for Benzene is zero. According to the EPA, the goal is set at zero because the EPA believes that only this level of protection can be deemed to be absolutely safe. No Benzene at all.

While the goal is set at zero, the most that the law allows in drinking water is five parts per billion, which is an extremely small amount. The reason that the law differs from the goal is because there is recognition that eliminating all Benzene from the drinking water is not feasible. But, how would you feel if you were consuming a chemical that the government believes should not be in your drinking water? I wouldn't be happy.

Benzene production increased from 9.9 billion pounds in 1984 to 12 billion pounds in 1993. This means that the chances for accidental releases are ever present.

The key to all of this is knowing whether your drinking water is dirty and then making sure that it becomes clean as quickly as possible. Or, you may have to find a permanent alternate drinking water source.

Read the consumer confidence reports that your local water supplier provides. And if there is Benzene in the water, find out how much. Don't be satisfied with conclusions from your water provider that the Benzene levels in your water are safe. Inquire and make sure for yourself that this is so. You may have to do some research, but it is your well being that we are talking about. Water suppliers, and ocassionally even the government, have a vested interest in making people believe that everything is perfectly fine, sometimes even when it is not.

If you have well water, you need to test it. Many people are under the mistaken impression that well water is absolutely free. But, this is not the case. It must be sampled, which costs money, and it must be sampled on a regular basis. You need to make sure that you are sampling for everything that is appropriate in your geographic region.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.