VIRGINIA – Dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ called PFAS are found in everything from our shampoo to nonstick cookware to the water we drink.
A recent study found that PFAS exist in more than half of the tap water in the United States.
Growing research shows these chemicals are linked to serious health risks including cancer, heart disease, and decreased fertility. There are more than 10,000 different types of PFAS, a type of synthetic chemical. These chemicals are found in 97 percent of Americans’ blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now for the first time, the federal government is taking action to limit exposure. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing federal limits on six types of PFAS in public water systems. The agency says the move will prevent thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of serious illnesses.
These chemicals are everywhere,” said Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis, an associate professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech. “This is going to reduce human exposure, but it doesn’t eliminate it.”
She said the challenge will be ensuring that small, rural municipal water systems can get the funding for the testing and filtration equipment needed. Krometis said the only filtration method currently proven to eliminate PFAS is reverse osmosis, which is costly and complicated.
“It’s going to take very advanced treatment to remove that PFAS. And then to destroy or, you know, get rid of any PFAS that was removed from the water, we’re creating a hazardous waste,” said Krometis. “That is a burden that is then going to have to be born by the customers. And if you have fewer customers, or you’re in a rural area with very intricate distribution systems, it’s going to be more difficult and more costly.”
If you’re on private well water, you’re out of luck. The new federal restrictions only apply to public water systems.
“It’s really on [those homeowners] both to monitor whether it’s there and then to fix the problem itself. And it can get expensive,” said Krometis.
Dwayne Roadcap is the director of the Office of Drinking Water with the Virginia Department of Health. He said there is ongoing research on the long-term side effects of PFAS on our health.
“Lifetime exposure increases your risk to the illness,” said Roadcap.
Krometis said working to eliminate PFAS can help reduce other contaminants, like E. coli and lead.
“If we take care of PFAS, we’re also going to be improving our water quality in terms of all those other contaminants,” said Krometis.
Roadcap said that millions of dollars in funding is available to address the forever chemicals, with an additional billion dollars in funding just announced by the Biden Administration. But he said that it could take more money to tackle this problem.
PFAS are also found in bottled water because the chemicals leak from the plastic. Roadcap said bottled water is not regulated for PFAS either.
If you are concerned about PFAS, you can call your local water authority to find out if your water has high levels of these chemicals. You can also check the VDH PFAS Sampling Dashboard.
If you have well water, you can pay for PFAS testing or purchase filtration systems that can eliminate PFAS, however, that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and requires regular maintenance.