A single map containing 57,412 locations, exposed to PFAS in the US, was created by the authors using high-quality, freely accessible data, with locations spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

A study that came out today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters says that per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as Forever Chemicals, could be in tens of thousands of places across the United States.

The research team says that places where fluorinated firefighting foams have been used or where PFAS-containing waste has been dumped should be assumed to be contaminated with PFAS.

A single map containing 57,412 locations was created by the authors using high-quality, freely accessible data, with locations spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

“PFAS contamination at these locations is very likely,” says senior author Dr. Alissa Cordner. “We know that PFAS testing is very sporadic, and there are many data gaps in identifying known sites of PFAS contamination. That’s why the ‘presumptive contamination’ model is a useful tool in the absence of existing high-quality data,” Cordner said.

Public health is very worried about PFAS. The chemicals have been found in many drinking water systems, in the bodies of people and animals around the world, and even in rainwater at levels that are higher than the EPA says are safe for humans to drink.

“Not only do we all have PFAS in our bodies,” adds co-author Dr. Linda Birnbaum, “but we also know that PFAS affects almost every organ system. It is essential that we understand where PFAS are in our communities so that we can prevent exposures.”

“While it sounds scary that there are over 57,000 presumptive contamination sites, this is almost certainly a large underestimation,” adds co-author Dr. Phil Brown. “The scope of PFAS contamination is immense, and communities impacted by this contamination deserve swift regulatory action that stops ongoing and future uses of PFAS while cleaning up already existing contamination.”

The authors used the PFAS Project Lab’s Contamination Site Tracker to compare the likely contamination locations they identified with over 500 known contamination sites to validate their presumptive contamination model.

They found that 72% of known contamination sites were either on the map of likely contamination sites or in the overall conceptual model, even if those sites couldn’t be mapped at the national scale.

Testing for PFAS is pricy and resource-intensive. According to Dr. Kimberly Garrett, a post-doctoral researcher at Northeastern University and a co-author on the article, “We have developed a standardized methodology that can help identify and prioritize locations for monitoring, regulation, and remediation.”

Governments, businesses, and communities can quickly and systematically locate probable PFAS exposure sources by identifying presumptive contamination sites. 

“It’s past time to ‘turn off the tap’ with new PFAS use and emissions,” adds co-author Sharyle Patton.

Source: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00502

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