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‘Forever Chemicals’ In Your Drinking Water, It Is Worse Than Previously Thought

Nothing lasts forever. Except for perhaps that drunk text that you sent and PFAS in your drinking water.

No, not pee, but something pronounced “pee-fas.” PFAS stands for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These are the Keith Richards of chemicals, known as “forever chemicals” because they can survive for years without really breaking down. This means that they can continue to build up in your blood as you drink them. And if you happen to drink water because you are human and not a robot, a new report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has got some bad news for you.

As you can see, the report entitled “PFAS Contamination of Drinking Water Far More Prevalent Than Previously Reported” found exactly that. Testing coordinated by the EWG last year revealed much higher levels of PFAS in drinking water than found by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing performed from 2013 to 2015. And you really don’t want anything that begins with pee in your drinking water.

At least pee is natural. PFAS are not. They are chemicals that are used for a variety of functions such as coating your carpets, clothing, shoes, microwave popcorn bags, fast-food wrappers, and dental floss. Yes, depending on the brand of floss you use, you may be flossing PFAS into your mouth. Try telling that to your dentist the next time he or she questions why you don’t regularly floss.

If something is waterproof or stain-repellent, like stuff that has Teflon, Scotchguard, or Gore-Tex, there is a decent chance that it has some kind of PFAS. PFAS ain’t just one thing but a family of nearly 5,000 different types of chemicals. And this is a very dysfunctional family. According to the EWG, studies have shown that when levels of PFAS in drinking water creep above one part per trillion, humans may start having some problems.

See the full article here.