In this June 18, 2018, registration photo, the apparatus used for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS, is seen in drinking water at Trident Laboratories in Holland, Michigan.
A report from Whitman College in Washington and Northeastern University has mapped more than 57,000 national sites that are smart candidates for national PFAS contamination. Of those, 693 are in Connecticut.
Last year, DEEP knew 2400 sites where they intended to check for contamination through the elegance of chemicals known to break down and degrade easily. sites known through the study are on DEEP’s radar.
“One of our main goals with this document is for policymakers to be able to use it to prioritize verification locations,” said Alissa Cordner, an environmental sociologist. “We know that PFAS requires a lot of time and resources. “
Researchers are still learning about PFAS chemicals, adding exposure and how to stumble upon them and eventually remove them from drinking water. The chemicals are widely used, but testing for them has been limited in the past.
Cordner’s team, which includes researchers from Northeastern University in Boston, looked for locations across the country where PFAS compounds would have been used regularly and added railroad yards, hydraulic fracturing sites, airports, wastewater treatment plants and agricultural spaces where sewage sludge has been used as fertilizer. The researchers excluded known sites of PFAS contamination from the set of suspected contamination. The study aimed to fill gaps in evidence and knowledge.
“We think our style is underestimated,” Cordner said. He explained that the test knew 400 sites in New Hampshire, while New Hampshire’s own systemic testing regimen knew more than 460 infected sites. “But states that have conducted systemic testing are placing PFAS in the kinds of places that we say are suspected of being infected. “
Cordner’s team compiled the knowledge into a map for public consumption. They hope this will serve as a wake-up call for federal, state and state governments.
The map does not include contamination that was detected in well water in Killingworth last year, but it does include several commercial services upstream of Killingworth as suspected sites of infection.
PFAS are a combination of more than 12,000 chemicals widely used in commercial and customer applications. The acronym stands for “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” which include carbon-fluorine bonds in those chemical compounds.
These chemicals were widely used in water repellency applications, adding fire foam, Teflon, water-repellent fabrics and oil repellents. Paper generators, electroplating items and textile generators are also PFAS users. Military bases also use many compounds containing PFAS. Because the carbon-fluorine bond is incredibly durable, PFAS tend not to degrade in the environment in the short term.
“They’re all around us in our daily lives,” Cordner said. “Because they are very persistent in the environment, they are called Forever Chemicals because the carbon-fluorine bond is very strong. “
When PFAS were first discovered, they were inert. But because they don’t break down, PFAS can build up in the surrounding area and in living things. PFAS compounds are a bit like detergents in that they can dissolve in water and oil. Ecosystem, over time, can accumulate in the blood and fats of wild and domestic animals. In addition, some PFAS can evaporate into the environment and fall as rain.
“The more we are exposed to them, the more they stay in our bodies and are poisonous to other parts of our body,” Cordner said. These are just chemicals that are destructive to human fitness and we are exposed to them through many other routes. “
Humans are exposed to food, drinking water, dermal and airborne exposure to PFAS. Cordner called them a “pervasive poisonous concern. “
As PFAS bioaccumulate, they are known to be poisonous to amphibians and fish. In humans, PFAS are linked to circulatory, digestive, reproductive, immunological, and nervous problems. In fact, PFAS can serve as endocrine disruptors. The endocrine formula is the body’s chemical signaling. formula that coordinates the function of the organs. Throwing PFAS into the aggregate can disrupt signals and cause large-scale effects if enough PFAS accumulates in the human body.
Cordner noted that communities adjacent to infected and potentially infected sites had the greatest threat of PFAS exposure and accumulation. I hoped Connecticut would emulate our neighbors to succeed in affected communities and avoid using PFAS in applications.