A vineyard in central California that had been irrigated with PFAS-contaminated well water from firefighting foam used for years at a nearby airport. Photo Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
EnvironmentHealth United StatesUncle Sam Is Guaranteeing Safer Drinking Water
As a first, the United States’s federal government has set national limits on levels of harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
“We’ve been waiting for federal regulation of these chemicals for a long time. We know that drinking water is a very significant source of the contamination,” says Linda Birnbaum, a microbiologist studying the health effects of exposure to environmental chemicals at Duke University.
To comply with the new federal rule, public water systems across the country must test their water and considerably reduce the levels of six types of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS largely became mainstream in the 1940s in cleaning products, cookware, paints, and more. In more recent years, PFAS exposure has been linked to cancer, heart and liver problems, and immune and developmental damage in children.
Under the new federal rule, public water systems must reduce PFAS levels by 2029. The Environmental Protection Agency is granting $1 billion in funding for states and other entities to conduct needed testing and treatment. These new limits are “the most important step we’ve taken to improve the safety of our tap water in a generation,” adds Scott Faber, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the Environmental Working Group.
