EPA: More drinking water systems across NC contain toxic 'forever chemicals'
Twenty additional drinking water systems across North Carolina have been identified to contain toxic PFAS contaminants known as “forever chemicals," according to newly-released data from the Environmental Protection Agency.
They’re called forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment and can build up in blood and organs.
Of the additional 328 additional locations with forever chemicals discovered across the U.S., Robeson County had one of the highest concentrations detected. Its water system, serving more than 64,000 people, contained nine different forever chemicals totaling more than 149 parts per trillion.
GenX, a PFAS chemical made at the Chemours' Fayetteville Works plant, was also detected.
"No one should be drinking that much PFAS," said Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst with the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit that advocates for drinking water safety. "The EPA has their recommended levels of exposure for several different types of PFAS at less than one part per trillion and folks in these places are drinking many hundreds of times that amount."
An interactive map from the Environmental Working Group compiling EPA data shows water systems where PFAS has been detected across the country. In North Carolina, dots light up the state with PFAS-contaminated sites in locations including Durham, Pittsboro, Fuquay-Varina and Asheboro, as well as Orange, Johnston and Nash Counties.
Most sites contain PFOA, the PFAS chemical used to make Teflon in non-stick cookware and other products. In studies with lab animals, PFOA has been shown to cause harm to the liver and negatively impact growth, development, and reproduction.
A recent review from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines a host of health effects associated with PFAS exposure, including cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, increased risk of asthma and thyroid disease, and decreased vaccine response in children.
"This should be taken seriously," Hayes said.
Hayes encourages those with PFAS-contaminated drinking water systems to purchase filters to avoid potential adverse health impacts. He also says he thinks lawmakers have a responsibility to stop the pollution at the source.
"The next step is policy to make sure that we're not being continually exposed to PFAS, to put limits that on to how much PFAS is being discharged into waterways and into our groundwater from manufacturing facilities, and to set levels of legal limits of PFAS in our drinking water," Hayes said.
The EPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) show roughly 26 million people across the U.S. have at least one type of forever chemical in their drinking water.
Currently, there are only safety recommendations called health advisories for PFAS levels in drinking water.
The EPA has pledged to finalize PFAS drinking water standards by the end of the year and utilities will then likely have three to five years to comply.
Legal limits for contaminants in tap water haven’t been updated in almost two decades.
The new WRAL Documentary, "Forever Chemicals: North Carolina's Toxic Tap Water," debuts Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m. on WRAL.
