Por Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Más de 62 millones de estadounidenses —aproximadamente uno de cada cinco— podrían estar expuestos a niveles potencialmente peligrosos de nitratos en el agua del grifo, según un nuevo informe.

Los nitratos —compuestos de nitrógeno y oxígeno que se encuentran de forma natural en el aire, el agua, el suelo y las plantas— se convierten en un riesgo para la salud cuando las lluvias provocan que los fertilizantes ricos en nitrógeno utilizados en la agricultura se filtren a las aguas subterráneas, los arroyos y los ríos, y acaben en los sistemas públicos de abastecimiento de agua, kilómetros río abajo.

Invisibles, insípidos e inodoros, los nitratos en bajas concentraciones en el agua potable se han relacionado con enfermedades de la tiroides, cáncer gástrico, renal, de vejiga y de colon, partos prematuros y defectos congénitos, entre otros problemas de salud, según el informe publicado este jueves por el Environmental Working Group (EWG), una organización sin fines de lucro que defiende la salud.

Ben, de trece años, está tan preocupado por los nitratos en el agua del grifo de su ciudad natal, Des Moines, Iowa, que recientemente envió una carta y un poema a su congresista local. “Recuerdo cuando podía beber agua del grifo, pero ahora es un problema de salud”, escribió Ben al representante estatal de Iowa, el Dr. Austin Baeth. “¡Por ​​favor, no ignore este problema!”.

Des Moines es un foco de contaminación por nitratos en el agua potable, con niveles tan altos en los ríos locales que la ciudad tuvo que construir una de las plantas de eliminación de nitratos más grandes del mundo. Su funcionamiento cuesta más de US$ 10.000 al día.

“He leído la carta y el poema de Ben muchísimas veces, y todavía me emociono”, dijo Baeth, un médico internista que está llamando la atención sobre los niveles de nitratos en Iowa con videos impactantes, a veces satíricos, en las redes sociales. “¿No es triste que los niños tengan que preocuparse por el agua que podría dañar su salud?”.

Las directrices federales establecidas en 1962 —que nunca se han actualizado— fijan los niveles de seguridad de nitratos en 10 miligramos por litro. Sin embargo, un número creciente de estudios revisados ​​por pares muestra una asociación con efectos en la salud a concentraciones de 5, 3 e incluso tan bajas como 2 miligramos por litro.

Para determinar cuántos estadounidenses están expuestos a nitratos en esas bajas concentraciones, los investigadores utilizaron la base de datos de agua del grifo del EWG, que recopila datos de casi 50.000 sistemas públicos de agua en Estados Unidos.

“Utilizamos mediciones de nitratos en el agua potable pública entre 2021 y 2023 en ciudades y pueblos de los 50 estados, mapeando la exposición hasta 3 miligramos por litro”, explicó Anne Schechinger, directora sénior de investigación agrícola y climática del EWG y autora del informe.

“Este es un mapa pionero; nadie lo había hecho antes”, afirmó Schechinger. “Además, se puede buscar por código postal, de modo que las personas pueden consultar sus propios niveles de nitratos y otros contaminantes”.

El informe no incluye el agua de pozos privados, que no está regulada por la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de EE.UU.

Según el informe, más de 6.000 sistemas de agua comunitarios, que abastecen a más de 62,1 millones de personas, registraron niveles de nitratos iguales o superiores a 3 miligramos por litro. Diversos estudios han relacionado estos niveles con Read more

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We begin Thursday morning with clear skies and cool temperatures, bundle up when headed out to work or school. Temperatures rise fast and mid 70s are projected for most beach areas, while upper 70s appear inland. A few areas of fog develop in the morning before clearing rapidly. Winds will be breezy at times but less impactful than days prior. Marine waters are mild.

Partly cloudy skies will begin our Friday. Marine clouds and onshore flow are reestablished. Low pressure develops around the boarder of California and Nevada. This will cool temperatures back into the 60s and low 70s. Winds will be strong by the evening and overnight lows are cooler than average.

Small rain chances arrive Saturday. Most of the area is at 20% chance or less and showers appear to hold inland rather than crossing the beaches. We cant rule out a rogue cell, so be prepared if planning anything outdoors. All rain amounts will be light and impacts are dismal. We dry out Sunday and Monday with mild temperatures prevailing. Small rain chances appear once again Tuesday of next week.

The post Warm Thursday, tracking weekend rain chances appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

We begin Thursday morning with clear skies and cool temperatures, bundle up when headed out to work or school. Temperatures rise fast and mid 70s are projected for most beach areas, while upper 70s appear inland. A few areas of fog develop in the morning before clearing rapidly. Winds will be breezy at times but less impactful than days prior. Marine waters are mild.

Partly cloudy skies will begin our Friday. Marine clouds and onshore flow are reestablished. Low pressure develops around the boarder of California and Nevada. This will cool temperatures back into the 60s and low 70s. Winds will be strong by the evening and overnight lows are cooler than average.

Small rain chances arrive Saturday. Most of the area has jumped to 50% chance or less and showers appear to hold inland rather than crossing the beaches. We cant rule out a rogue cell, so be prepared if planning anything outdoors. All rain amounts will be light and impacts are dismal. We dry out Sunday and Monday with mild temperatures prevailing. Small rain chances appear once again Tuesday of next week.

The post Warm Thursday, tracking weekend rain chances appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — They had been separated for 40 days, the longest they’d ever been apart.

She had hugged her daughter countless times, but after being forcibly separated for weeks, their embrace felt like the first time again. It lasted for five minutes, the mother and daughter holding each other tightly, as if they might be pulled apart again if they loosened their grip.

“You did it, mama,” Damaris Bello, 22, told her mother.

María de Jesús Estrada Juárez had accomplished the seemingly and increasingly impossible: She returned to the United States after being deported by the federal government.

Estrada Juárez, who came to the US as a teen and was protected under an Obama-era program for about 13 years, had been deported from Sacramento to Mexico, where she was born.

She’s among hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the US under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. And she’s one of dozens of DACA recipients who have been deported, even though recipients are supposed to be protected from removal.

Between January 1 and November 11, 2025, 261 DACA recipients were arrested and 86 were deported, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not give CNN updated figures when asked.

With the help of an attorney, Estrada Juárez sued the federal government, and a judge ordered officials to facilitate her safe return to the country she has called home for nearly 30 years.

“Today, justice was done,” Estrada Juárez, 42, told CNN en Español after crossing back into the US last month. “If my case can help other people who fight to be back with their families, then the pain might be worth it.”

Nerves over detainment became reality

Estrada Juárez made a life in the US after arriving from Puebla, Mexico, at 15. She came, like many immigrants, in search of a better life, and to help her mother and siblings, she said. Her DACA status gave her a sense of security and belonging, she said.

The DACA program, which began in 2012, protects about half a million undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.

It allows recipients, or “dreamers,” to work and study legally in the US. Though the Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from fully shutting down the program in 2020, it continues to face legal challenges.

But critically, DACA doesn’t provide lawful status, according to DHS. Still, Estrada Juárez wanted to become a resident and began the process.

When her interview to adjust her immigration status was scheduled for February 18, she became nervous. She had heard of people being detained and deported at immigration hearings.

But she had a protected status, Estrada Juárez thought to herself, even if it wasn’t permanent. And she had a clean record, with no criminal charges.

“If I was doing the right thing and I was going the right path, why would I ever be afraid?” she recalled asking herself. “Why would you ever be afraid at home?”

As her appointment date approached, Estrada Juárez reflected on the future that permanent residency would bring her and her family: a better future, she thought. A hopeful one.

“It was a life-changing appointment,” she said. “This is the next step to move forward.”

The moment she h