Communities not waiting to test for 'forever chemicals' in their water

With no enforceable drinking water standard for substances known as "forever chemicals" at the state or federal level, local governments like Batavia and Evanston are monitoring them on their own.

Batavia recently conducted testing for 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances - better known as PFAS, or forever chemicals - in its water. The city reported that it did not detect two substances in particular that are likely to face federal regulation later this year.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed national standards that would set drinking water levels for six forever chemicals. Expected to become finalized by the end of the year, the regulation would be the first drinking water standard for PFAS.

The group of chemicals, launched for widespread commercial use in the 1950s, are used in industrial and consumer products to make items nonstick and oil-, water- or stain-resistant. That includes things like nonstick pans, waterproof jackets and even shampoo and conditioner.

There are about 5,000 of these human-made chemical compounds. Released into our soil, water and air through landfill leakage, sewage sludge and industrial waste, they have been the subject of growing environmental concerns due to their uniquely everlasting quality: Once leaked into the environment, PFAS never break down.

"Given the presence of PFAS in consumer products, disposal of these items into municipal solid waste landfills may be a significant source of PFAS transport into the environment," according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. "Wastewater treatment is not designed to remove PFAS, and the use of wastewater biosolids as agricultural fertilizers may distribute PFAS into the environment, leading to the contamination of soil, surface water and groundwater."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PFAS are also present in nearly every American - the general population is primarily exposed to PFAS through ingestion of contaminated food and water. The extent of how harmful forever chemicals are to people is still unknown, though animal studies suggest the substances may affect fertility, growth and development, as well as lead to higher cholesterol levels and increased risk of kidney and testicular cancer.

"PFAS are bioaccumulative, meaning they build up in the body over time. They have long half-lives and take several years to be eliminated from the body," according to the Illinois EPA. "Exposure to PFAS does not necessarily mean that a person will get sick or experience an adverse health effect. Researchers continue working to fully understand the effects on human health."

Gary Holm, Batavia's director of public works, said city workers performed the testing in January so that they would have data available ahead of the expected federal EPA announcement.

"We have done testing in an effort to demonstrate to Batavia citizens that we are monitoring the issue and on top of it," Holm said. "And right now, we're confident that we're in good shape."

Under the proposed federal standards, two specific chemicals - PFOA and PFOS - would be regulated at 4 parts per trillion. Batavia's test results showed non-detect levels for the substances.

The U.S. EPA also is proposing to regulate four other forever chemicals: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX Chemicals. For these PFAS, the regulation would limit any mixture containing one or more of the substances.

While Batavia detected a level of 983 parts per trillion for PFBS, the result was less than half of the EPA's health advisory level of 2,000 parts per trillion.

"That one contaminant will be mixed with three other contaminants and then reported out as a composite according to the very brief summary we've received from the EPA to date," Holm said. "We don't even know how that's going to work yet, because the EPA hasn't issued any guidance on it."

The proposed regulations come as PFAS manufacturers such as 3M and DuPont are facing a growing number of lawsuits from communities across the country - including the state of Illinois - alleging the companies hid the dangers of PFAS while continuing to sell them.

"For decades, manufacturers have been aware of the dangers of PFAS yet still promote the chemicals as being safe to use. As a result, PFAS have contaminated our water supplies across Illinois," Illinois Attorney General Raoul said in a statement following the filing of the lawsuit in February. "The manufacturers of forever chemicals must be held accountable for the widespread contamination to our natural resources."

Several suburbs, including Cary, Lake in the Hills and South Elgin, also have sued 3M, DuPont and other companies over the contamination.

The Illinois EPA has released six state health advisories for the substances since 2021 - though the declarations are nonenforceable.

The agency is currently working on developing statewide water quality standards. While state environmental agencies typically rely on the federal government to develop those standards, because the U.S. EPA has yet to release any, the Illinois EPA began the process of establishing state-only regulations for PFAS, the agency states on its website.

The Illinois standards will be developed using data from a statewide sampling investigation completed by the agency in 2022. The investigation began in the fall of 2020 and sampled for 18 different PFAS.

Out of nearly 1,500 testing sites, the IEPA detected PFAS at 149 - including the city of Evanston's water utility, which services Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Wheeling and Des Plaines.

Evanston's detected levels for PFOA and PFOS are below the EPA's recently proposed levels of 4 parts per trillion for both chemicals and the city has not detected other forever chemicals in its drinking water.

The utility continues monitoring for 18 PFAS on a quarterly basis.

In other municipalities where PFAS were not detected in the IEPA's round of testing, like Naperville, local governments said they are monitoring the issue to ensure compliance with any future regulations.

"The city of Naperville gets its drinking water from the city of Chicago through the DuPage Water Commission, with Lake Michigan as the water source. Samples taken in 2020 by the IEPA of the Chicago water supply system at the Jardine Water Purification Plant and the Sawyer Water Purification Plant at entry points to their distribution system did not detect PFAS substances," Darrell Blenniss, the director of Naperville's department of public utilities, said in an email.

Private wells and non-community water supplies were not part of statewide testing, though "nearby community water supply test results may indicate a potential for private well and non-community water supply contamination," according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

If you live near a community where PFAS have been detected in the water supply and you'd like assistance in conducting your own testing, the department recommends contacting your local health department or IDPH itself.

A map of the statewide results can be found at tinyurl.com/ILPFAS.

• Jenny Whidden is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.