Friday, October 14, 2016

Toxic fluoride chemicals widespread in drinking water

The Fluoridation Record Aug. 11, 2016
Toxic fluoride chemicals  widespread in drinking water 
 
The industrial chemicals known as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminate the drinking water supplies of at least 6 million people in the USA, according to a report by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other universities. 

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances make up a large group of persistent anthropogenic chemicals used in industrial processes and commercial products over the past 60 years. Widespread use and extreme resistance to degradation have resulted in the ubiquitous presence of these compounds in the environment,” write the researchers. 

They note that a 2012 report from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported detectable serum PFAS concentrations in virtually all individuals. 

Drinking water contamination with poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) poses risks to the developmental, immune, metabolic, and endocrine health of consumers,” they write. “We find drinking water supplies for 6 million U.S. residents exceed US EPAs lifetime health advisory (70 ng/L) for PFOS and PFOA,” they conclude. 




Distribution of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. Source: American Chemical Society. 

 
Most of the national contamination was found in thirteen states: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Illinois. 


The authors noted that nearly 97 million residents of the US use private wells that are not tested or small water suppliers that are rarely tested so that information about drinking water PFAS exposures is therefore lacking for almost one-third of the U.S. population.” 

“For many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment, and we now have to face the severe consequences,” said lead author Xindi Hu in a Harvard University press release. Professor Philippe Grandjean co-authored the study. 

The report was published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

No comments:

Post a Comment