‘Forever Chemicals’ In Water From MA Faucets: New USGS Study Confirms

MASSACHUSETTS — A new federal study looking at so-called "forever chemicals" in water supplies has confirmed what many Massachusetts residents already know: PFAS chemicals are present at potentially dangerous levels in our drinking water.

The synthetic compounds known collectively as PFAS are contaminating drinking water to varying extents in large cities and small towns, and in private wells and public systems, according to the study released this week by the U.S. Geological Survey. Based on the data, the researchers estimated that at least one form of PFAS could be found in about 45 percent of tap water samples nationwide.

The researchers described the study as the first nationwide effort to test for PFAS in tap water in both private and regulated public water sources. It builds on previous scientific findings that the chemicals are widespread, showing up in consumer products as diverse as nonstick pans, food packaging and water-resistant clothing and making their way into water supplies.

The researchers focused on 716 locations where forever chemicals were detected from 2016-2021, including 447 that rely on public supplies and 269 using private wells. They were collected in mostly private residents, but also a few schools and businesses. The samples were taken from protected lands such as national parks, residential and rural areas with no identified PFAS sources, and urban centers or waste sites known to generate PFAS.

A new Massachusetts regulation went into effect in 2020 requiring municipalities to test for PFAS, leading towns across the state to discover the presence of chemicals above the state limit. Towns that detected high PFAS levels are being required to find short and long-term solutions, including the installation of new filter systems.

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The USGS Scientists tested for 32 PFAS compounds, most of the ones detectable through available methods. Thousands of others are believed to exist but can't be spotted with current technology, Kelly Smalling, a research hydrologist, told The Associated Press.

The heaviest exposures were in cities and near potential sources of the compounds, particularly in the Eastern Seaboard, Great Lakes and Great Plains urban centers, and Central and Southern California. Many of the tests, mostly in rural areas, found no PFAS.

As a scientific research agency, the USGS doesn’t make policy recommendations. But the information in the study “can be used to evaluate the risk of exposure and inform decisions about whether or not you want to treat your drinking water, get it tested or get more information from your state,” Smalling told the AP.

In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first federal drinking water limits on PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances, which remain in the human body for years and don't degrade in the environment. A final decision is expected later this year or in 2024.

But the government hasn’t stopped companies that use the chemicals from dumping them into public wastewater systems, Scott Faber, a senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, told The AP.

“We should be treating this problem where it begins, instead of putting up a stoplight after the accident,” Faber said. “We should be requiring polluters to treat their own wastes.”

In Massachusetts, the state Department of Environmental Protection has set a threshold of 20 parts per-trillion (PPT) in drinking water. The proposed federal threshold would be much lower at 4 PPT.

The EWG previously identified 2,858 locations in 50 states and two territories where PFAS have been found in public and private water systems. A searchable map helps people find out if PFAS have been detected where they live.

Reporting by The Associated Press, which receives support for climate and environmental coverage from several private foundations.