Alarming new study finds toxic hazard in 80,000 sites across US: 'Unacceptable'

PFAS, or "forever chemicals," have contaminated soil and groundwater across the U.S. and worldwide. A global study of these contaminants found them in almost a third of groundwater samples, and another found them with disturbing frequency in human blood.

As if that weren't bad enough, a new study has identified almost 80,000 new sites that it predicts are likely to be contaminated in the U.S., Technology Networks reported.

What's happening?

Direct testing has already revealed 2,200 sites in the country that are contaminated with unacceptable levels of PFAS. However, researchers from the PFAS Project Lab at Northeastern University realized that these sites weren't the only ones that held forever chemicals — they were merely the sites that were most likely to be tested, concentrated in areas such as California, New England, and Michigan, while areas with less stringent controls were neglected.

To determine the actual distribution of pollution by these chemicals, researchers created a model using information about likely sources of contamination. PFAS are used in many industries for their stain-resistant, water-resistant, and flame-retardant properties, so the study focused on sites near qualifying facilities.

After mapping out the locations of airports, military facilities, municipal fire activities, industrial facilities such as metal finishing and electronics manufacturing, and wastewater treatment plants, researchers located almost 80,000 likely sites — roughly 35 times as many as the known existing sites. While it is possible that they are not all contaminated, and though direct testing has not been carried out to confirm their results, the scale of the potential damage is frightening.

"We did find that, overall, all of the sites that we knew about had elevated PFAS concentrations that were above health-based guidelines. We found that some were associated with really high values, but they were all associated with unacceptable values," said lead author Kimberly Garrett, a postdoctoral research fellow with the PFAS Project Lab, per Technology Networks.

Why is PFAS contamination important?

Forever chemicals are linked to a range of health problems, including elevated cholesterol, liver problems, immune system damage, hypertension, reduced fertility, and certain cancers. The more people are exposed to them, and the higher the levels of exposure, the more health problems these chemicals will cause.

Also, as the nickname implies, these chemicals essentially last forever in the environment and the human body. They don't break down naturally over time; instead, they build up with every new source of pollution.

What's being done about PFAS?

That buildup, and the fact that we can easily identify the main sources of these chemicals, led the researchers to recommend greater regulation of the industries to prevent further contamination. They hoped that their research could serve as a roadmap.

"Once you identify the waste stream, you can also say, 'Near this wastewater treatment plant are potential manufacturers and users,'" said Phil Brown, co-director of the PFAS Project Lab, per Technology Networks. "We can then tell them that they have to cut down their emissions before it gets into our [treatment] plants."

"We know that resources for testing bodies and regulatory bodies and municipal utilities are very limited, so we hope that our tools can serve as a guide for if a municipality or a state has so much money for testing and they say, what would be the most impactful way to use this?" Garrett added. "We think that this paper can contribute to those kinds of decisions."

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