The water coming from your faucet has already been treated to remove harmful chemicals and contaminants. But where you live will dictate whether your public water system is testing for and removing a group of chemicals called PFAS.
PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, can be found in everyday household products and even in firefighting foam. There are thousands of different types of PFAS.
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WATCH HEREThe first-ever national drinking water standards for PFAS went into place last year under the Biden administration, but the EPA announced in May to change the criteria with a partial rollback.
The old standard lowered the limit of PFOA and PFOS — two types of PFAS commonly used in nonstick or stain-resistant products such as food packaging and firefighting foam — cannot exceed four parts per trillion in public drinking water.
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The new standard keeps the limit at four parts per trillion, but it will give water systems two extra years, until 2031, to meet this standard.
For rural or smaller water systems, this change offers more time to ramp up operations to meet federal standards.
The rollback also does away with limits for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, PFBS, a group of less common PFAS.
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Florida International University Professor Natalia Soares Quinete says a lack of research surrounding these lesser-known PFAS could have contributed to this rollback.
“The amount of research on PFOA and PFOS, it expands like over several years … that's why there has been no rolling back regarding those,” Soares Quinete said. “And I think the rollback besides the other one could be that there’s still a need of more toxicological evidence.”
Many water systems in Florida are still working to test for these chemicals. Of the water systems in Florida that have tested for PFAS since 2022, 37% show PFAS levels above the current allowable limits.
Soares Quinete says many water systems still have a long way to go. Not just to test for these chemicals but to take action to remove them from our water.
“(The) majority does not comply, especially in terms of PFOA and PFOS. So, what we have to do is they have to come up with ways and I build infrastructure that can eliminate that,” Soares Quinete said.
You can look at whether your local water system is testing for PFAS you can take a look at the EPA’s PFAS analytics tool.
