By Charles Young, WV News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Forever chemicals have been identified in water systems throughout the state, according to West Virginia’s health officer.
Since 2019, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has worked with the U.S. Geological Survey to test water from 279 public water systems for the presence of PFAS chemicals, said Dr. Matt Christiansen.
Of the 279 water systems tested, 37 were found to have detectable levels of PFAS in their raw water source, 27 of which were found to have detectable levels of PFAS in their finished water.
PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals used in consumer products since the 1950s. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or inside the body.
Of the 27 systems with PFAS in their finished water, 19 were found to have “at least one level” of detectable PFAS chemicals “that could potentially be impacted” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recently released PFAS standards, Christiansen said.
The testing results are “early and they are preliminary” and don’t indicate the need for immediate measures to be taken, Christiansen said. …
Read more the article and see charts at https://www.wvnews.com/statejournal/news/health-officer-discusses-forever-chemicals-in-west-virginia-water/article_352497b8-f576-11ed-85a8-cbf8ab764e9d.html