High ‘forever chemicals’ levels found in drinking water of more communities near DOD sites

WASHINGTON – Dangerously high levels of the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS have been detected in the drinking water of more communities near Department of Defense installations.

Data released last week by the DOD found high levels of PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and other PFAS in the areas near military bases in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,  South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. (The chart below shows areas near bases with detects. Scroll left to right to see additional results.)

^{*Parts per trillion, or ppt}

Related data released a month ago by the DOD found high levels of PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and other PFAS in the areas near military bases in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington. The DOD is required by Congress to publish the results of tests for PFAS in off-base drinking water as they come in and is continuing to add results for more bases across the country.

“No one should be drinking water with levels of PFAS this high,” said EWG Policy Analyst Jared Hayes.

DOD installations were previously required to provide water filters or connect nearby residents with public water supplies if PFAS levels exceeded 70 parts per trillion, or ppt, a health advisory level set by the Environmental Protection Agency. But this month, the EPA revised the advisory levels for PFOA and PFOS to levels well below 1 ppt.

PFAS have been confirmed in the groundwater of nearly 400 military installations and are suspected to be present at hundreds of other installations. The DOD has been slow to clean up PFAS pollution, which is caused mostly by the use of firefighting foam made with the chemicals. The Pentagon has not yet said whether it will comply with the EPA’s new drinking water health advisory levels.

PFAS are a large family of fluorinated chemicals, some of which have been linked to cancer, reproductive harm, immune system damage and other serious health problems. PFAS contaminate the drinking water of an estimated 200-plus million people.

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