Is Northern Virginia a D.C.- Area Hot Spot for 'Forever Chemicals' in Tap Water?

EWG/Environmental Working Group, By Sydney Evans, Science Analyst, & Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., Vice President, Science Investigations, *March 10, 2021. - Ed.

Tap water samples from throughout Northern Virginia were contaminated with the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS at levels significantly higher than those previously reported for other parts of the Washington, D.C., metro area, according to tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group.

Detected levels of total PFAS in 19 samples of tap water ranged from about 6 parts per trillion, or ppt, in a state park in Fairfax County, to about 62 ppt in a public park in Prince William County. The higher level is about three times more than earlier detections in the District and Prince George’s County, Md.
Like the previous samples, the latest samples were collected by EWG staff and volunteers and analyzed by an accredited private laboratory using Environmental Protection Agency–approved methods.


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The chart below shows the levels of total PFAS detected in each sample and the ZIP codes where they were collected. Details of all samples taken at each site and the precise sampling dates are in the tables in the Appendix.

PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they build up in our blood & organs, and do not break down in the environment. Studies show that exposure to very low levels of PFAS can increase the risk of cancer, harm fetal development & reduce vaccine effectiveness. The EPA has not set a legal limit for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act, but independent studies have found that a safe level is 1 ppt or less, a finding that is endorsed by EWG. The source of PFAS contamination in the latest samples is not known. The level of PFAS in a sample of tap water is largely determined by the source of the water supply. In the Wash. metro area, most drinking water comes from the Potomac River, but in No. Virginia, the Occoquan Reservoir, on the southern border of Fairfax County, supplies water to about 40% of the 1.7 million customers served by the Fairfax Water Authority.

Last February, a malfunction released a large spill of PFAS-based firefighting foam from a hangar at Manassas Regional Airport, in the Occoquan River basin. It is not known whether the spill contaminated water supplies, but PFAS-based firefighting foams have been used for decades on military bases, including some in No. Virginia. The compounds in EWG’s tests are a small fraction of the entire PFAS class of thousands of different chemicals. More than 600 are in active use, including the new generation of so-called short-chain PFAS, replacements for the long-chain PFAS that were largely phased out after revelations of their health hazards...

More,
https://www.ewg.org/research/nova-pfas-testing/