Water System Project Targets 'Forever Chemicals'
SOUTH CAROLINA, JUN 30 – Waterkeeper Alliance found PFAS levels in the Pocotaligo River exceed federal safety thresholds, raising concerns about industrial discharge and potential health risks for local communities.
- Waterkeeper Alliance released a report last week confirming widespread PFAS contamination in 98 percent of U.S. waters downstream from wastewater treatment plants.
- The contamination results from industrial PFAS runoff through wastewater plants lacking technology or federal limits to effectively remove these chemicals.
- South Dakota State University is establishing an EPA-certified lab to test PFAS in surface water, biosolids, plants, and animal tissues, supported by local water districts.
- One site showed PFAS levels that spiked to 228.29 ppt, nearly 3,000 percent above the one-ppt health guideline, highlighting the severity of contamination.
- The report and rising concerns prompt calls for nationwide PFAS regulation as a class and phasing out production, though EPA enforcement and guidance delays complicate responses.
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30 Articles
Eco-friendly plastic offers flexible electronic properties without 'forever chemicals'
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed an environmentally safer type of plastic that can be used for wearable electronics, sensors and other electrical applications. The material, a so-called ferroelectric polymer, is made without fluorine, considered a "forever" chemical that hurts the environment because compounds made with it don't break down quickly or at all.
How plants could help us detect, and even destroy, dangerous ‘forever chemicals'
The vision “I think a lot of people now are aware of PFAS, or concerned about it, or want to know whether it’s present in their water, their food. The whole purpose of what we’re trying to do is develop something that’s simple and cost effective to answer that question for them.” — Bryan Berger, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Virginia The spotlight Last fall, we wrote a story about how a group of researchers, together wi…
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