Causes.com
| 7.7.23
Half of U.S. Water Supply Contains 'Forever Chemicals'
Is your government doing enough to combat the dangers of PFAS?
Updated July 7, 2023
- A federal study by the U.S. Geological Survey has found that toxic "forever chemicals" could be in up to half of the U.S. tap water supply.
- The study tested water samples at over 700 locations over a five-year period to reach their conclusion. Unlike other analyses, the researchers collected water directly from homeowners' taps at the point of exposure.
- In June 2022, the EPA issued health advisories for drinking water containing the main "forever chemicals," PFOA and PFOS.
- The researchers tested for 32 individual PFAS and PFOA compounds and said that the EPA's recent advisories "were exceeded in every sample in which they were detected." They found similar results in both public supplies and private wells.
- The researchers found that the likelihood of contamination is higher in urban areas, with a 75% chance of contamination, compared to a 25% chance in rural areas.
- The researchers discovered geographical hot spots: the Great Plains, Great Lakes, Eastern Seaboard, and Central/Southern California.
- Kelly Smalling, a researcher from the Geological Survey, told NPR:
"This USGS study can help members of the public to understand their risk of exposure and inform policy and management decisions regarding testing and treatment options for drinking water."
- The EPA recommends contacting your local water utility to learn more and to conduct frequent well testing.
What's the story?
- 98% of the population has detectable amounts of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals - known as PFAS - in their blood.
- PFAS - per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances - are known as “forever chemicals” because they break down slowly over time. These chemicals will be in the environment for years and years to come.
- Chemical giant 3M announced in late 2022 that it would be phasing out the use of PFAS by 2025, at the cost of roughly $2.3 billion, amid lawsuits and shareholder demands. Critics consider the announcement extremely belated and an example of corporate greenwashing.
What are PFAS?
- PFAS are a class of about 9,000 compounds used to make products and materials resistant to water, heat, and stains. They are frequently found in food packaging, cookware, waterproof clothing, cosmetics, mattresses, carpets, electronics, and countless other consumer goods.
- PFAS is an umbrella term that covers thousands of human-made substances, all of which are “forever chemicals” since they do not break down in the environment or organs.
What are the risks?
- PFOS and PFOA (part of the PFAS group) have been banned or restricted in the U.S. because of their toxic bioaccumulative effects. Despite this, their existence in the environment is persistent. The forever chemicals have been found in the deep ocean, Antarctica, and even humans, which has alarmed scientists and public health experts.
- High-profile cases like the 1990 DuPont scandal — where the company contaminated public waterways — have brought public attention to the scourge of these chemicals. Despite knowing its toxic effects, DuPont discarded 7,100 tons of PFOA-laced sludge into "digestion ponds" - open, unlined pits in the ground - which seeped into the drinking water for 70,000 people.
- Farmers near DuPont plants noticed that animals were dying gruesome deaths due to chemical poisoning. Further investigative work uncovered that it drastically increased the frequency of cancerous tumors in humans. Many call this case the "Big Bang" of the forever chemical crisis in the U.S.
How ubiquitous are they?
- Earlier this year, scientists said chemical pollution had crossed a “planetary boundary” beyond which lies the breakdown of global ecosystems.
- When attempting to paint the big picture of the unique health threat of the forever chemicals, Rob Bilott, an attorney fighting against chemical giants, said:
“...we’re talking about a chemical that has managed to find its way into the blood of almost everything on the planet and almost every person in the United States.”
- A 2021 study found that PFAS compounds contaminate the air inside homes, classrooms, and stores at alarming levels. Out of 20 indoor sites examined by researchers, 17 tested positive for PFAS in dust and air.
- In 2018, the chemicals were found in the drinking water of about 16 million Americans and at 126 military bases. High levels were also found in firefighting foam used for training exercises.
- More than 190 million chemicals are registered globally, and a new industrial chemical is created every 1.4 seconds on average. An analysis of popular brand-name products detected PFAS in nearly 75% of items labeled stain- or water-resistant.
- The CDC found PFOA in the blood of 98% of Americans, in addition to being found in breast milk and umbilical cords.
PFAS Pushback
- Beginning January 2023, California will ban intentionally added PFAS from food packaging. Last month, California's attorney general sued 3M and Dupont to recoup clean-up costs associated with PFAS production.
- In August of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed designating the two most common PFAS as hazardous substances. While the agency currently does not require routine testing, it will begin collecting samples of 29 different PFAS in the nation’s drinking water between 2023 and 2025. Activists hope this will lead to frequent testing.
- Maine banned all PFAS in 2021 in a landmark decision that will take full effect in 2030.
- Colorado passed a law earlier this year that banned the use of PFAS in the oil and gas industries.
- In Hawaii, PFAS were banned from firefighting foam earlier this year.
- Shareholder pressure is mounting — investors managing $8 trillion in assets have written to the world's largest chemical companies demanding they cease production.
- The Biden administration is considering designating certain forever chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund program.
How can I avoid exposure?
- The EPA has created a list of more than 120,000 locations within the U.S. where exposure might be exceptionally high. The public is advised to avoid visiting these areas.
- People who dine out frequently have higher levels of PFAS in their blood due to takeout containers, even with eco-friendly or sustainable packaging.
- Contact your local water utility to inquire whether they test for PFAS and PFCs.
Is your government doing enough to combat PFAS? Share your thoughts.
- Emma Kansiz
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Whenever a 'forever' substance is introduced to an ecosystem, in this case the ecosystem that supports modern life in this country, there are secondary effects when these substances are introduced at scale. Some of the secondary effects can be predicted and some cannot. However, it should be incumbent on the manufacturers of said chemicals to assess the potential secondary effects of 'forever' chemicals before being allowed to broadly market them.
We have too often allowed corporate interests to make their own assessments of the potential long term secondary risks, and they have failed to do this either because they did not anticipate what efffects have resulted or, in many cases, acknowledging potential risks would diminish profitability. Tobacco and asbestos are clear examples where profitability was more important to corporate interests than the health of the nation, and the manufacturers knew so. Regulation is clearly needed along with an FDA-like rigorous assessment and approval process considering potential side-effects.
Along with regulatory restrictions, there needs to reparations from the corporate intenersts who have greatly profited from their 'forever' chemicals which have become a threat due to the scale of their use.
For example, I think a good argument can be made to task 3M with providing solutions to municipal water processing facilities which can safely remove PFA's from water supplies, or reduce human exposure to PFA's by developing PFA-free plastic food containers and wraps.
According to a GAO report we don't know the extent the US water supply is effected hence the level of regulation needed. A sampling if 5,800 water systems in 6 states found 16% (978 water systems) had forever chemicals which effected 25% (9.5M people) of the population served.
Regulations also vary between EPA and 6 states with stricter regulations and 14 states developing regulations.
We need to know the extent of forever chemicals in the US water supply to develop regulations, and which water supply systems should be prioritized for remediation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation.
This problem affects organ systems (liver, kidney, brain, blood, etc) especially in developing children especial babies on formula mixed with water. With out it we will be raising generations of children with health problems because of the contaminated water systems used.
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105135
"As of July 2022, six states set standards and were influenced to do so by public health concerns. When the states set standards, the levels they set were more stringent than EPA's 2016 lifetime health advisory levels. Fourteen additional states developed guidance or began developing standards because of PFAS contamination."
No explanation needed. Our government has allowed these hazardous products to be made, sold even though they knew the dangers they possess. But campaign contributions mean more than the hazardous waste to our bodies and environment.
No, The Government is not doing enough. The GOP fights the EPA at every turn, while these corporations line their pockets with untold wealth-and we, the common people, suffer, get sick and die from it.
Apparently, they are NOTdoing enough. We cannot "beat" cancer until we remove the chemicals from our air, water, earth and food.
Our government is too busy catering to the upper elite. NOT ONE PERSON IN GOVERNMENT has a clue on how the average American lives.
Having pure and clean drinking water is a fundamental need. Flint, Michigan still does not have clean water and it's been maybe 3 years or more! It's quite disturbing.
I really don't know as I've not heard anything on the news about actions our gov. may be taking. My guess is that we're probably not doing much and should be doing more, but that's just a guess.
BAN PFAS. The reason they wont is very simple, If we follow the fluorine trail of toxicity we may stumble upon fluorides and question how the hell we were ever tricked into drinking this toxic mess. Its the prioritization of industrial and military interests ( AS THEY BOTH RELY HEAVILY ON FLUORINE/FLOURIDE JUST ASK MANHATTAN PROJECT SCIENTISTS AND DUPONT) over public health and even our childrens future, for me.
The GOP wants everything de-regulated, bows to their Corporate donors and this is now what we have.
Any health effects suffered by the American People is the fault of every member of the GOP.
increased action needed now. We can't wait "FOREVER".
now would be a great time for accountability. I never agreed to be poisoned, did you?
corporations knew now for decades they were poisoning the planet and the people on it, but continued to profit. meanwhile, government has done nothing.
I will leave you with some song lyrics to ponder. Its by my close friends, Chicago's best mutant rockers, Hotlips Messiah.
Pollute the water
pollute the air
pollute the soil- I don't care
deformed babies-deformed babies- deformed babies for you!
I paid a mighty price to have the Culligan people come to my home and outfit my kitchen faucet with a pfas purizing device. I figured I'd be dead before our govenment got around to anything that would help us with this poisoning.
Nothing alive is free of these chemicals, just as there are microplastics in the interstices of every cell in every living thing...There is no child born without tiny bits of plastic in between their cells, and no child without these hazardous chemicals flowing through their blood and other bodily fluids. Yet there are few studies, and little regulation on how much of these wind up in our water supplies...And the further up the food chain, the more they become concentrated. Eating a single freshwater fish from ANY body of water in the United States is like consuming contaminated water for a month now! If we do not do SOMETHING, and soon, rates of cancer across the country will explode, due to the presence and further concentration of these chemicals in our food and water supplies.
Much, Much more needs to be done. We could start at the level of the wealthiest's paychecks!
More clearly needs to be done.
Whether it is forever chemicals in our bodies, nuclear annihilation, an uninhabitable planet due to man-made climate change, or simply mass slaughter with civilian-owned weapons of war, humans, especially we Americans, seem determined to wipe out our species. We all can help change our trajectory, but doing so requires leadership from politicians who, unfortunately, seem more focused on political gamesmanship and press appearances. Some real leadership would be greatly appreciated - before it's too late.
since the citizens are aroused over this issue. The feds are dragging their feet to reduce this
I had never heard about these forever chemicals until this week. Yet the have already caused damage to people. Something that harms both our bodies and environment need to be under more scrutiny from the government
Unfortunately our government is run by corporate interests and refits rather than the health and well being of the public.
Obviously not!!!
Evidently not!
Many comments were well thought out so I'll just add this.
Corporations that understand collateral damages that hurt people or the climate and do them anyway should be held liable and - frankly - jailed.
The reason corporations get away with it is they know if they get caught, the punishment likely will be in monetary issues. Prison is a better deterrent and I bet if corporations realize that they'll be jailed for years, they will do a better job.