While the city of Flint, Michigan continues to rely on bottled and filtered water to avoid the water supply’s lead contamination, a different town in Michigan, Parchment, fell victim to other hazardous chemicals. In late July, the local government alerted its citizens that large traces of per- and substances – synthetic chemical compounds commonly called PFAS – were found in the town’s tap water.
The level of these chemicals in Parchment’s water well was 1400 parts per trillion. The Environmental Protection Agency has set the Lifetime Health Advisory at 70 ppt. According to the EPA, any amount that exceeds this limit may cause harm to the human body. To avoid further contact with these chemicals, the town recommended residents to drink, cook with and brush their teeth with bottled water until the town lifted its water advisory one month later, according to MLive.
The PFAS category comprises approximately 4,000 synthetic substances that break down into the environment unnaturally. Their prevalence means they even appear in the human body, where they can cause negative health effects.
In 1974, the EPA set regulations to watch over the quality of tap water in the U.S. through the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law set minimum water quality levels for public water suppliers to follow and allowed for the monitoring of water supplies to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements. Even though many U.S. companies have banned the manufacturing of products containing PFAS, many international manufacturers still use the substances. Imported clothing, rugs and plasticware may contain considerable amounts of PFAS.
Where are PFAS located?
Since PFAS are strong, household brands often used them in the manufacturing of consumer goods. One popular type of household item that contains PFAS is nonstick cooking pans, something most families have in their kitchen. Many carpets and couches are made with PFAS, since these chemicals are effective in preventing stains. Waterproof clothing, like raincoats or winter jackets, often used them to make the garment water-repellent. Some food packaging, like wrappers on fast-food burgers, uses PFAS to prevent grease from leaking through.
What health effects are related to PFAS?
Since most humans have been exposed to PFAS at some point in their lives, scientists have chosen to study the chemicals’ effects on lab animals. When testing PFOA and PFOS, two of the most common PFAS, they noticed adverse health effects on the test subjects. These chemicals affected their reproductive health, liver and kidney functions and immune systems.
The most common outcome of exposure to PFAS in humans is increased cholesterol levels. However, researchers found links between PFAS exposure and a variety of serious health problems, such as thyroid disruption and cancer. PFAS can remain in the human body for two to nine years, depending on the type of chemical ingested.
PFAS may also influence infants’ pre- and postnatal health, as they are transmitted from pregnant women to their babies through umbilical cord blood. Newborns may be exposed via breastmilk or formula that has come into contact with PFAS-contaminated water. Once PFAS have contaminated a fetus, infant or child, they may interfere with growth and developmental health. For women trying to conceive, exposure may increase the amount of time it takes to get pregnant, according to a study in Human Reproduction.
How to avoid contact with PFAS
The easiest way to prevent the contamination of PFAS is to stop buying water-resistant clothing, nonstick pans and other products that may have traces of the substances. If a town’s water supply contains PFAS, it is still safe to shower, bathe and do laundry, as long as people do not consume the water. Even boiling contaminated water does not make it safe to consume; actually, boiling water causes the chemicals to gather and potentially become more dangerous.
The Environmental Working Group, an activist group focused on agricultural advocacy, has a tap water database, which allows Americans to check the quality of their tap water by inserting their zip code. This resource lists the detected chemicals and any adverse health effects that may result from exposure to them.
In order to provide public awareness of the health effects caused by PFAS, it is imperative that researchers continue to test these harmful chemicals. Since the research on PFAS’ impacts are primarily speculative, international regulations have not prevented manufacturers from using these substances. An increased chemical analysis will help the E.P.A. and other environmental and health organizations build a greater case to halt the use of PFAS.
