Tungsten

Where It Comes From in New Mexico

In New Mexico, tungsten can enter drinking water from both natural geology and human activities. Naturally, tungsten is tied to ancient geological events that concentrated the metal into deposits across the state.² For example, tungsten-bearing minerals are found in areas like Iron Mountain in Sierra County and Copper Mountain in Taos County.³˒⁴ Additionally, New Mexico has historic tungsten mining sites, such as "The Tungsten Mine" in Taos County, which left behind old shafts and prospect pits.⁵ A modern source of tungsten in the environment comes from firing ranges, where the use of tungsten-nylon bullets can introduce the metal into the surrounding soil and water.¹

Health Concerns

The health effects of exposure to tungsten depend on how it enters the body and how long the exposure lasts.¹ Animal studies suggest that ingesting tungsten may cause negative reproductive and developmental effects, and that it can specifically target the kidneys.¹ Breathing in tungsten dust has been linked to lung inflammation and scarring, known as pulmonary fibrosis.¹˒⁶ Furthermore, public health officials have investigated tungsten after it was found in the water of Fallon, Nevada, a town that experienced an unusual cluster of childhood leukemia cases.¹˒⁷

How Climate Change Exacerbates Exposure Risks

Changing weather patterns and a drier climate in the Southwest can directly increase the risk of exposure to tungsten and other harmful heavy metals. As temperatures rise and droughts become more severe, safe surface water becomes scarce, which forces many rural families to rely on unregulated private wells that are more likely to contain contaminated water.¹ Furthermore, the increasingly dry and arid climate creates specific oxidizing soil conditions that make it very easy for tungsten, along with co-occurring toxic metals like uranium and arsenic, to dissolve and move freely through the ground.² Finally, when extreme and infrequent heavy rainstorms do hit, the sudden flood of water can rapidly wash these accumulated metals out of the dry dirt and flush them directly into local groundwater and drinking water supplies.³

How to Mitigate Exposure Risks

If you get your drinking water from a private well, it is important to monitor its safety.

• Test your water: Because tungsten can be mobile in groundwater, you should have your well tested if you live near historic mining areas or firing ranges.¹ Standardized methods established by federal agencies are used by laboratories to accurately detect tungsten in water.⁸

• Filter your water: If testing reveals high levels of tungsten, studies show that it can be removed from water using specialized separation and filtration processes.⁸