PFAS: Difference between revisions
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==Historical== | ==Historical== | ||
==Technical== | ==Technical== | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote>'''What EPA Has Learned So Far''' | ||
PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. | * PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. | ||
Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment. | * Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment. | ||
PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe. | * PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe. | ||
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. | Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. | ||
There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks. | * There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks. | ||
'''What We Don't Fully Understand Yet''' | |||
EPA's researchers and partners across the country are working hard to answer critical questions about PFAS: | EPA's researchers and partners across the country are working hard to answer critical questions about PFAS: | ||
How to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS in our air, water, soil, and fish and wildlife | * How to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS in our air, water, soil, and fish and wildlife | ||
How much people are exposed to PFAS | * How much people are exposed to PFAS | ||
How harmful PFAS are to people and the environment | * How harmful PFAS are to people and the environment | ||
How to remove PFAS from drinking water | * How to remove PFAS from drinking water | ||
How to manage and dispose of PFAS | * How to manage and dispose of PFAS | ||
This information will help EPA and state, local, and tribal partners make more informed decisions on how best to protect human health and the environment.</blockquote> | This information will help EPA and state, local, and tribal partners make more informed decisions on how best to protect human health and the environment.<ref>https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained</ref></blockquote> | ||
=Examples= | =Examples= | ||
Revision as of 17:49, 6 February 2023
Per-(or Poly-)Fluoro-Alkyl Substances
Definition
Historical
Technical
What EPA Has Learned So Far
- PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time.
- Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.
- PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe.
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.
- There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks.
What We Don't Fully Understand Yet EPA's researchers and partners across the country are working hard to answer critical questions about PFAS:
- How to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS in our air, water, soil, and fish and wildlife
- How much people are exposed to PFAS
- How harmful PFAS are to people and the environment
- How to remove PFAS from drinking water
- How to manage and dispose of PFAS
This information will help EPA and state, local, and tribal partners make more informed decisions on how best to protect human health and the environment.[1]
Examples
Peshtigo residents are torn over their options for getting clean water, which include the possibility of being absorbed into a nearby city and its public utilities, digging new wells at the expense of the company responsible, or building a brand new water utility system for Peshtigo itself. Hundreds of households are living on bottled water and water filtration systems. The town, state, and individuals have sued the company responsible. Budish told Grist what he wants is simple: “What I’m looking for is clean water.”
But when PFAS are found in thousands of products, used in a variety of industries, and are now polluting every city in the country, determining who is responsible for the contamination and how it will be cleaned up gets messy.
In 2017, the state learned that Tyco, a subsidiary of global chemical conglomerate Johnson Controls International and one of the largest employers in the region, had been discharging PFAS into local streams and ditches in the region. According to state records, Tyco knew about these elevated levels at least four years earlier and failed to warn residents. “This community has not been treated fairly,” Boyle told Grist.
The pollution stems from Tyco’s operations at a fire testing center that operated from the 1960s to 2017. This facility is located on the southern edge of the city of Marinette, roughly a mile from the town of Peshtigo.
First responders and military personnel would light planes, automobiles, and other heavy-duty equipment on fire at a location near the area high school, and then test the fire-suppressant foam Tyco sold. Afterward, gallons of foam would be washed away off the pavement into nearby streams where it would seep into the surrounding groundwater, eventually making its way into Peshtigo drinking wells.