May 2022

Setting a national drinking water standard for the ‘forever chemicals‘ known as PFAS – and passing the implementation costs to ratepayers and private well owners, while letting industry to keep dumping PFAS in drinking water – is the epitome of environmental injustice.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to clean up PFAS contamination could create exactly that outcome, because the companies discharging the toxic chemicals won’t be on the hook for paying treatment costs for getting PFAS out of drinking water. Just as bad, the agency has outlined a lengthy timeline for regulation, despite the need for urgent action. Read more…

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) are chemicals found in everyday goods, including non-stick frying pans, stain-resistant carpets and clothes, and food packaging. They’re so ubiquitous that they easily leak into our food and water systems, and into our bodies, where they stay for good—hence their ominous nickname, ‘forever chemicals.‘ It’s estimated that 97% of Americans have PFAs in their bloodstreams.

PFAs in our tap water was the focus of a joint investigation by Consumer Reports and The Guardian. The two media outlets launched a nine-month investigation, ‘America’s Water Crisis,’ that detected not just traces but large quantities of PFAs, lead, and arsenic in the majority of municipal drinking water systems across the U.S; it’s the winner of the water category of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. ‘It’s an incredible project on a life-and-death issue,’ says Jen Shecter, senior director of content impact at Consumer Reports. ‘I think it cuts at the core of one of the most fundamental rights that consumers have: the access to safe drinking water.’ Read more…