pfas: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a type of man-made chemicals used in many products and known not to biodegrade easily.

PFAS are used in a staggering array of consumer products and commercial applications. Decades of heavy use have resulted in contamination of water, soil and the blood of people and animalsin the farthest corners of the world. PFAS are incredibly persistent, never breaking down in the environment and remaining in our bodies for years. In recent years, manufacturers have started to use shorter-chain PFAS because they move more quickly through the human body than longer-chain ones, such as the three chemicals the FDA banned from food packaging. That may sound like a positive step, but it hasn’t made a real difference.

PFAS testing is currently not broadly recommended for all private well users, because of the complexity of proper sample collection, cost, and the limited number of labs approved for testing for PFAS. If you’d like to consider testing, the list of labs certified to test for PFAS in drinking water can be found on the Connecticut DPH’s Environmental Laboratory Certification Program’s website.

Although nearly all of us are exposed to PFAS, their toxicity in humans is not completely understood. [newline]Our campaign has a number of recommendations for the federal government as well as actions that states and localities can take today to eliminate PFAS from our products and clean-up existing pollution. Additionally, retailers and manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that the products they sell are free from PFAS. We’ve summed up the science connecting the exposures with the strongest evidence linked to breast cancer for you here. PFBA-contaminated irrigation water in Minnesota was found to be the main source of PFBA in home-grown produce, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, apples and raspberries.

PFAS are not readily absorbed by your skin, so bathing, showering, swimming, and washing dishes in water containing PFAS is not a significant source of exposure. Once a release has occurred that has impacted groundwater, it is possible, depending on the magnitude of the release, for PFAS to travel far away from the release area. To view PFAS sites involving the DNR, please go to the DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment Program database . To find sites with PFAS contamination in the database, please go to the “Advanced Search” tab, and under “Substances” search for “PFAS.” The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has additional information on PFAS, and the U.S.

Your Environment Your Health

The City of Madison, Dane County Regional Airport, and the Wisconsin National Guard are all responsible for the contamination. Get more information about how it is being cleaned up on WI DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment Database . SWRCB has used the OEHHA findings and performed their own analysis of Perfluorooctanoic acid and in early 2020, the SWRCB issued a Response Level for PFOS at 40 parts per trillion which was a reduction from the previous 70 part per trillion. For perspective, one part per trillion is approximately equal to one drop in an Olympic size pool. SWRCB also established an RL of 10 parts per trillion for another family member, PFOA.

The Commonwealth of Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment has listed out the country’s current state of PFAS chemicals on their website. In April 2019, the International Pollutants Elimination Network put together a comprehensive report on PFAS chemical policies for the entire continent of Asia. PFOS and PFOA exposure decreased neurotransmitter levels in Northern leopard frogs, a species native to North America. PFOS, PFHxS, PFOA, PFHxA, and PFPeA were found to accumulate in Northern leopard frog brains and cause “complex neurotransmission alterations”. GenX was detected in grass (1-27ppt) and leaves (4.3-86ppt) within 3km of a Teflon plant in the Netherlands, suggesting uptake of GenX and other PFAS by locally grown crops and foods is possible. And your consumption of PFAS-containing food can limit your overall exposure to PFAS. Consult the Connecticut Fish Consumption Advisoryfor information about eating fish caught in Connecticut waters and the US EPA for additional advice on how to limit your exposure to PFAS.

• Pollution generated far away also circles the globe, for example, through ocean waves or rain, with wide-reaching impacts.
• Developmental issues, cancer, liver damage, immune system disruption, resistance to vaccines, thyroid disease, impaired fertility and high cholesterol.
• The technology would be placed at the back end of the normal wastewater treatment process as a final “finishing†of water to ensure that water discharged is treated for PFAS.
• Bottled water is regulated by the Department of Consumer Protection as a food product.
• Some states with high exposure, including Washington, are pushing their own regulations and bans.

For example, PFAS are used in stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams. Certain PFAS are also authorized by the FDA for limited use in cookware, food packaging, and food processing equipment. Are man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s. They have been used to make nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics and carpets, some cosmetics, some firefighting foams, and products that resist grease, water, and oil. Although most research has been geared toward human health, pets are also susceptible to the health effects of PFAS through the same routes of exposure. It is important to remember that health-based guidance levels are developed based on the average body weight and water consumption rate of an adult human. Pets tend to weigh less and consume more water on a daily basis than the average adult human; therefore, pets may experience these harmful effects at lower doses.

How Are We Exposed To Pfas Chemicals?

These modern foams can breakdown to PFAS compounds that may be less toxic. Given the presence of PFAS in consumer products, disposal of these items into municipal solid waste landfills may be a significant source of PFAS transport into the environment. In the landfill, PFAS can migrate into the liquid waste collection system. Leachate is either treated onsite or taken to a wastewater treatment facility to be treated. Disposal of personal care products down home wastewater drains is also a source of PFAS to municipal wastewater treatment facilities. Wastewater treatment is not designed to remove PFAS and the use of wastewater biosolids as agricultural fertilizers may distribute PFAS into the environment, leading to the contamination of soil, surface water, and groundwater. When released to surface water, PFAS may bioaccumulate in freshwater fish and waterfowl.

Exposure to PFAS above the Connecticut Drinking Water Action Level does not necessarily mean that health effects will happen. Short-chain PFAS, such as GenX and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid , do not build up in the body over time; however, they have been shown to cause similar health effects in laboratory animals as their predecessors. In July, U.S. EPA released the first set of preliminary data collected as part of the updated Toxics Release Inventory . The inventory program tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals, including 176 PFAS chemicals, that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Certain industry sectors must report annually how much of each TRI chemical they have released into the environment through air, water or land disposal and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment.

National Institute Ofenvironmental Health Sciences

PFAS are used in many industrial and consumer processes to make everyday items non-stick, or water-, oil-, or stain-resistant. Along with Air National Guard and Dane County Regional Airport, we posted PFAS warning signs and advice for eating fish around Lake Monona and along Starkweather Creek. We will be working with communities along the Yahara chain of lakes and river to post signs to help protect public health. The PFAS Technical Advisory Group is a working group formed in 2019 to discuss issues related to PFAS in Wisconsin. The group is staffed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and does not have an appointed membership; any interested party may attend and meetings are open to the public. Starkweather Creek was contaminated when PFAS moved from sites near the airport into the Creek.