'Explosive' EPA data shows 'escaping PFAS' in drinking water 'is nearly impossible': report

17 August 2023

The United States Environmental Protection Agency released new data on Thursday indicating that "as many as twenty-six milllion" Americans are exposed to "forever chemicals" in their drinking water "according to an analysis of the new EPA data performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington DC-based nonprofit," The Guardian's Kyle Bagentose reports.

"Drinking water systems serving small towns to large cities — from tiny Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to Fresno, California — contain measurable levels of so-called 'forever chemicals,' a family of durable compounds long used in a variety of commercial products but that are now known to be harmful," Bagentose writes. "Studies have linked the chemicals to cancers, immunodeficiencies, reproductive harms and developmental effects in children."

Despite decades of warning from scientists about the dangers of polymers such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), "studies show nearly all Americans have some level of PFOA, PFOS, and similar chemicals" in their bodies, Bagentose notes. "Additional analyses calculate that hundreds of millions of Americans are likely exposed through drinking water contamination."

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Experts who assessed the EPA's findings expressed concern over what was discovered. Bagentose explains that "170 water systems found some level of PFOS in their drinking water, while 156 found PFOA. That means about one-in-10 drinking water systems contain the two most notoriously dangerous forever chemicals. When including all 29 forever chemicals, the data confirm that the drinking water of approximately 26 million Americans is contaminated, according to the EWG nonprofit. The data is also 'consistent' with a 2020 study from the group that calculated more than 200 million Americans could have some form of PFAS in their drinking water."

EWG Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Scott Faber said that "for decades, millions of Americans have unknowingly consumed water tainted with PFAS" and cautioned that "the new testing data shows that escaping PFAS is nearly impossible."

EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox offered a concurring opinion.

"PFAS are an urgent public health issue facing people and communities across the nation. The latest science is clear: exposure to certain PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, over long periods of time is linked to significant health risks," Radhika said. "EPA is conducting the most comprehensive monitoring effort for PFAS ever, at every large and midsize public water system in America, and at hundreds small water systems."

Meanwhile, Delaware Riverkeeper Network Deputy Director Tracy Carluccio stressed to Bagentose that people who do not reside in close proximity to facilities that are typically associated with pollution are not necessarily in safer situations than those who do.

"This is explosive and is going to be a shocker for a lot of people who thought, 'Well I don't live near a military base, I don't live near a factory,'" Carluccio said. "In fact, PFAS are being found in really weird places because of how thoroughly they've been transported into the environment."

Moreover, Bagentose continues, "A report by Eurofins Eaton Analytical laboratories, a California-based lab that performed some of the earlier testing for the EPA, found that by using more accurate technology available at the time, the chemicals were actually present in an estimated 28% of systems."

Consequently, its author, Andrew Eaton, believes that "we're potentially missing early warnings of (contamination) plumes."

View Bagentose's article at this link.

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