PFAS Project Lab

July 7, 2023

Nearly half of US drinking water contains toxic PFAS chemicals, study finds

By Shannon Kelleher

At least 45% of US tap water is contaminated with harmful synthetic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a new federal study estimates.

The study, which was conducted by the US Geological Survey (USGS), also supports previous findings that people in urban areas are more likely to be exposed to PFAS in their drinking water than those in rural places. The analysis found similar PFAS concentrations in public and private water and marks the first study to test for the chemicals in tap water from both sources across the country, the USGS said in a press release this week.

“It’s valuable to have this study, which does have at least one data point in every one of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, to attempt to measure contamination at a truly nationwide level,” said Alissa Cordner, Co-Director of the PFAS Project Lab at Northeastern University and an associate professor of sociology at Whitman College. “There’s really a need for more systematic private well testing across the country,” she added.

There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS chemicals, which are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down. PFAS have been linked to health problems including cancer, decreased fertility, and kidney disease. The chemicals have been applied to many popular consumer goods and can leach into drinking water from industrial sites, sewage treatment plants, landfills, or certain firefighting foams. A 2022 analysis found detectable levels of PFAS in about 83% of US waterways.

Concerns about widespread PFAS contamination has led to recent measures to reduce exposure to the harmful chemicals, including proposed national drinking water standards for six PFAS released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March. At the end of June, the agency announced a new framework to prevent some new PFAS chemicals from entering the market. The chemical giants 3M, Dupont, and others recently agreed to settlements that may provide affected communities with billions of dollars to test for the toxic chemicals and remove them from their drinking water.

March 14, 2023

EPA announces proposed drinking water standards for six toxic PFAS chemicals

By Shannon Kelleher

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed national standards aimed at reducing levels of six harmful chemicals in drinking water. The move was applauded by health and environmental advocates who say the action is long overdue.

The agency said in a press release that if the rule is implemented it will “over time, prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious PFAS-attributable illnesses.”

The EPA action is part of a larger government move to respond to scientific evidence showing that certain types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are associated with a range of health problems, including a heightened risk of developing cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, decreased immunity, hormone disruption and a range of other serious health problems. PFAS have become nearly ubiquitous in the environment, including in water sources.

The new standards target six types of PFAS. For PFOA and PFOS – types known to be particularly dangerous to human health – the agency said the new rule would require public water systems to ensure levels of PFOA and PFOS do not exceed a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of four parts per trillion (ppt). Additionally, the EPA would require public water providers to use a hazard index calculation to determine if combined levels of PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX Chemicals pose a potential risk.

“Today we can celebrate a huge victory for public health in this country – US EPA is finally moving forward to protect drinking water across the United States by proposing federally-enforceable limits on some of the most toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulative chemicals ever found in our nation’s drinking water supply,” US attorney Rob Bilott said in a statement. Bilott has been calling for the EPA to address PFAS in US drinking water in 2001.

“It has taken far too long to get to this point, but the scientific facts and truth about the health threat posed by these man-made poisons have finally prevailed over the decades of corporate cover-ups and misinformation campaigns designed to mislead the public and delay action,” added Bilott.

If finalized, all public drinking water systems will be required to monitor for all six PFAS chemicals and to notify the public and reduce PFAS levels if they exceed the standards.

“It’s not surprising that [EPA under the Biden administration] is doing it,” said Phil Brown, co-director of the PFAS Project Lab at Northeastern University and co-principal investigator of a PFAS research and education project at the Silent Spring Institute, in response to the drinking water standards announcement. “Everyone wishes it had happened a long time ago,” he added.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents the interests of more than 190 chemical companies, called the EPA’s approach “misguided,” and said the new low limits would “likely result in billions of dollars in compliance costs.”

The ACC said it had “serious concerns with the underlying science” used to develop the proposed MCLs, and said the agency was violating its own guidance by combining substances affecting different health endpoints into a single index.

December 16, 2022

EPA fails to adequately test tribal drinking water systems for PFAS, study finds

US tribal public water systems receive proportionately less federal testing for harmful “forever chemicals” than other drinking water systems, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Tribal communities have long suffered from water justice issues. Almost half of all tribal US homes don’t have access to clean or reliable water, or lack basic sanitation. High levels of arsenic, manganese, or iron have also been found in many tribal communities’ drinking water.

The study looked at data on PFAS collected from 2013 to 2015 through a federal program for monitoring unregulated contaminants in drinking water, finding that only about 28% of the population served by tribal drinking water systems was included in the testing. In contrast, almost 80% of the population served by non-tribal drinking water systems was included.

“We’ve been looking at issues of PFAS contamination and the unevenness of testing for years, and still these [findings] were surprising in terms of how big the discrepancy was,” said Alissa Cordner, co-director of the PFAS Project Lab at Northeastern University and an author of the study.

“Unfortunately, what tends to happen with PFAS is a lack of data is translated as a lack of a problem,” added Cordner. “Just because a place hasn’t been tested for PFAS doesn’t mean the PFAS aren’t there.”

PFAS, a class of chemicals used in many everyday products, have been linked to cancers and other serious health problems. Since there are not yet federally enforceable standards for PFAS in drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collects data about these chemicals, along with other contaminants suspected to linger in drinking water supplies, under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). This month, EPA is expected to issue long-awaited drinking water health standards for two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.