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• Widespread Contamination via Wastewater: A new report found that harmful “forever chemicals” (PFAS) are flowing from wastewater treatment plants into surface water across the U.S.
• Water Quality Degradation: Sampling revealed that total PFAS concentrations increased in 95% of tested waterways after receiving discharge from the treatment facilities. Some of these waterways are sources of drinking water.
• Biosolids Contamination: The study also found elevated PFAS levels downstream of 80% of fields that were treated with biosolids (sewage sludge used as fertilizer).
• Health Risks: PFAS have been linked to multiple serious health concerns, including various types of cancer, kidney/liver damage, reproductive issues, and suspected impaired immune function.
• Systemic Design Failure: Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove PFAS, and none of the 22 facilities sampled employed the advanced technology required for PFAS removal.
• Industrial Source Accountability Gap: All but one of the analyzed facilities process water from industrial users that have no restrictions on the concentration of PFAS they discharge into the sewer system.
• Regulatory Free-for-All: The lack of federal effluent limits or pretreatment standards from the EPA on industrial discharges creates a “regulatory free-for-all” and places an unfair burden on municipalities.
• Conflicting Federal Action: While the Biden administration set the first enforceable drinking water limits for six PFAS compounds in 2024, the subsequent Trump administration announced plans to delay enforcement of two limits and rescind four others.
• Call for Comprehensive Regulation: The report recommends nationwide regulation of PFAS as a class (rather than individual compounds) and the eventual phasing out of PFAS production entirely (“turn off the tap”).