PFAS are a class of over 15,000 chemicals used in hundreds of different consumer products and industrial applications.(1) PFAS make things non-stick, waterproof, grease-resistant, and stain-resistant. PFAS did not even exist before the 1940s, when a chemist at DuPont manufactured the first known PFAS. Over 98% of people in the United States have measurable PFAS in their blood.(2) PFAS have been detected in people, wildlife, soils, and water worldwide.(3)

Those PFAS that have been studied are known to be harmful at extremely low levels. PFAS cause a range of serious health problems, including certain cancers, reproductive and developmental illnesses, and immunosuppression.

PFAS are also persistent and bio-accumulative. They never fully break down, not for hundreds or even thousands of years. As long as products containing PFAS continue to be made and used, PFAS levels in our bodies and the environment will continue to rise—raising the risk that an increasing percentage of the population will have illnesses caused by PFAS.(4)

That’s why local action is so important: you can play a key role in reducing exposure and pushing for safer alternatives.

Learn more about how PFAS can impact your health and how you are exposed HERE.

Drinking water is often a major source of exposure to PFAS. Approximately 75% of U.S. public water systems have detectable levels of PFAS. (10) Health risks increase as the amount of PFAS in drinking water rises.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)  has established very low limits, called Maximum Contaminant Levels, for the amount of PFAS allowed in drinking water. 

Public water systems in Massachusetts must test for six PFAS and, if repeated tests show that the combined total of these PFAS is above 20 parts per trillion, water systems must take action to reduce PFAS levels. Water systems can lower PFAS levels by closing wells, installing filtration systems, or connecting to new water sources. 

The six PFAS that water systems must test for are: PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFHpA, PFNA, and PFDA. As a shorthand, MassDEP calls these chemicals PFAS6. PFAS6 must be at or below 20 parts per trillion.

Twenty parts per trillion is a very small amount of PFAS, the equivalent of 20 drops of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency established even lower limits for PFAS in public water systems, but the Trump Administration has decided to rescind some of the limits and delay others from going into effect until 2031.  Even without federal action, the MassDEP is required to review its standards at regular intervals and is likely to lower its standards based on federal data on PFAS safety.

Learn more about PFAS in public drinking water supplies and private wells HERE.

There are many ways to help protect yourself and your family from PFAS.

Learn more about:

• Installing and maintaining a water filter that is certified to remove PFAS.

• Avoiding consumer products with PFAS.

• Testing your blood for PFAS.

Learn more about how you can protect yourself and your family from PFAS HERE.