Forever chemicals are all around us. How do you keep them out of your drinking water?
States are moving to ban the compounds, called PFAS, which have been implicated in several serious health effects, including some cancers, high blood pressure, and developmental problems in children. And recently, sticky-note maker 3M spent billions to settle claims that it allowed forever chemicals to contaminate water supplies.
But whether you buy bottled water, drink city tap water, or use well water, how do you know if it’s safe from these chemicals? Can common filters protect you? We asked the experts for advice.
How do I find out if my drinking water has PFAS?
Regulations restricting the levels of PFAS in your local water system vary state by state and even city by city. But that may change soon. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed drinking-water standards that will require water utilities to reduce contamination of certain PFAS chemicals to no more than four parts per trillion.
The EPA’s proposed limit amounts to one drop of water in 20 Olympic-size swimming pools, said Christy Remucal, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin.
“Having federal regulations looming on the horizon is really good news,” Remucal said. “These chemicals are getting a lot of attention. This is going to mean that utilities have to test for them.”
The EPA has said it expects a final rule by year’s end, but delays are common on new rules like this.
Matt Simcik, a professor in the public health school at the University of Minnesota, said if you’re on a municipal water system, the incoming federal regulations could mean you may not need to take measures to filter your tap water.
“The EPA is protecting you through your water supply,” Simcik said. “But as we’ve seen in places like Flint or Jackson, Miss., that’s not always followed through on.”
Until the new rules are in place, you can contact your municipal water system and ask if they’ve tested the system for PFAS. The utility company may have recent test results available online or it may share the results of a recent survey with you directly. Simcik said he gets a quarterly report from his municipal water system in the mail.
You can use this link to search for a water system’s annual water quality report through the EPA, by entering your state or county.
To learn about my drinking water in Washington, for instance, I searched for the District of Columbia, selected the municipal water system for the District, and opened the 2023 report. The city’s water comes from the Potomac River (about 140 million gallons of water a day). And it includes a chart of testing results for certain PFAS alongside the EPA’s proposed contamination limits.
What if I have well water?
Anyone who relies on private wells will need to regularly test the water supply on their own. Testing from a private lab can be expensive and some don’t look for PFAS, according to PFAS Exchange, a project led by the Silent Spring Institute and funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The EPA recommends anyone dependent on private wells work with state-certified laboratories that use the EPA’s testing methods for drinking water.
“Private wells are really important to consider because they’re not regulated,” Remucal said. “Homeowners or residents who have private wells aren’t required to test their water.”
What do I do once I have test results?
The test results may be a bit confusing to read at first glance. There are thousands of PFAS and “the acronyms have acronyms,” Remucal said.
You can enter the test results into a tool created by the PFAS Exchange, which will compare the findings to federal and state guidelines.
Concentrations of PFAS can vary quite a bit depending on where you live. Linda Birnbaum, the former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said if you live near factories, military bases, or other sites where PFAS is used or manufactured, you may be at a higher risk of contamination in your tap water.
Birnbaum notes that if your water results come back a few or even several points higher than the four parts per trillion proposed by the EPA, you shouldn’t worry. But, if you find the water you’re drinking “is up to 50 parts per trillion or 100 parts per trillion, clearly you don’t want to drink that water,” Birnbaum said.
“If you’re about tenfold above, you probably want to do something,” Birnbaum said.
Remucal said “in general” water utilities do an effective job of filtering our water, and she doesn’t think twice about drinking tap water in different cities. But, “different people have different risk tolerances.” And some people decide to filter their tap water because of the taste or odor – not just because of the risks of a contaminant.
How can I filter the water from my tap?
There are two options to filter tap water at home: active carbon filters and reverse osmosis systems.
Carbon filters will “do a pretty good job” at filtering out contaminants in your tap water, Birnbaum said. But, you need to regularly replace the filters. There are solid and granular carbon filters for under the sink, inside a refrigerator, or in a water pitcher, such as Brita or Pur.
Reverse osmosis systems use high amounts of pressure to force the water through a membrane that filters out any potential contaminants.
Birnbaum said reverse osmosis is more effective but it’s often “much more difficult” to maintain, and it’s more expensive. Reverse osmosis filtration under one sink will cost a few hundred dollars but a system for an entire house could cost thousands of dollars to install.
The NSF, formerly known as the National Sanitation Foundation, provides independent testing and certification of point-of-use water filters and whole-house systems.
How do I dispose of the water filters?
Once it’s time to replace the filter on your faucet or water pitcher, what do you do with the old one? Experts say there’s no great answer here.
The filters, and the chemicals stuck to the activated carbon, most likely end up in a landfill with the rest of the trash and then “out into the environment,” Remucal said.
“None of the technologies we have right now at the home or municipal scale are destroying PFAS,” Remucal said. “It is shifting the problem from one place to another. But that’s what we’ve got at the moment.”
What about bottled water?
If you know your tap water is contaminated, with PFAS or other compounds, experts say bottled water is the quickest solution to limit your exposure – at least for the short term.
The low-density plastic used for bottled water is not considered a potential source of PFAS contamination, experts say. “Bottled water is a lot safer than drinking a contaminated well with PFAS in it,” said Graham Peaslee, a physics professor at the University of Notre Dame.
But, Simcik said, some bottled water is just “bottled tap water,” and it’s not a long-term solution to contaminants in your drinking water. Once the water is bottled, it’s regulated by the Food and Drug Administration – not the EPA – and Simcik said the regulations under the FDA are less stringent for PFAS contamination.
In 2021, a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University tested 101 bottled water products and found that most didn’t have PFAS. The study did, however, detect PFAS in 39 products tested. The study didn’t disclose brand names but did report that brands labeled “purified” were less likely to have the contaminants, according to Consumer Reports.
The downside of drinking bottled water is that it’s a single-use plastic, which can create more waste.
What are the other ways I can limit my exposure?
The main way humans are exposed to PFAS chemicals is through what we eat and drink. The grease-resistant wrappers and packaging used to store fast-food burgers, fries, and even salads often contain oil-resistant PFAS. And experts often advise against prepackaged microwave popcorn because the kernels are often sitting in a package sealed with oil-resistant paper or plastic.
“It’s not just the water,” Birnbaum said. “It’s in many, many consumer products.”
People are pressuring companies to stop selling clothing or other products that contain PFAS to reduce the amount of the chemicals in the environment, Remucal said. And companies like REI and Patagonia have announced they’re moving away from using forever chemicals.
“The power of the purse is real,” Remucal said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
