Water utilities nationwide may have to test drinking water for 28 additional contaminants, including perfluorochemicals (PFCs), currently unregulated by federal law according to the Environmental Protection Agency plans. A complete list of contaminants is expected to be published next year and the tests are planned to start in 2013.

PFC's - What Are They?

On the EPA’s list there are six perfluorochemicals (PFCs). PFCs are used in the production of fluoropolymers - these are toxic industrial chemicals widely used by various industries for over 60 years to make products resistant to stains, oil, grease and water. They are commonly used in non-stick cookware, grease-resistant coatings (e.g. fast food wrappers or microwave popcorn bags) in stain-resistant textile coatings and some other industrial applications. Some of these products are made of chemicals breaking down into PFCs in the environment and inside human body.

Perfluorochemicals can be also found in carpet and furniture treatments, sprays for leather, paints and cleaning products and in shampoos and floor waxes.

Perfluorochemicals do not occur naturally in the environment – they are all man-made. Wastes from the PFCs production as well as from other processes in which these chemicals are involved have been placed in several disposal sites across the country.

Perfluorochemical Contamination and the Environment

PFCs are very longstanding in the environment. They can easily enter groundwater and move long distances. Some scientists suggest that PFCs can travel in air, lay down on soil and leach into groundwater.

There has not been a comprehensive survey conducted on the scale of PFC pollution nationwide, but water agencies, scientists, and environmental organizations has recorded pollution of drinking and source water in PFCs in 11 states. It is still not clear if PFCs can be released from products when being used.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have detected traces of PFCs in blood of almost all Americans over 12 years old. People get exposed to PFCs though food, water, products or from the environment. Environmental Working Group tests carried on new-born babies have confirmed the presence of perfluorochemicals in the serum, meaning they had been exposed to PFCs in the womb. Some PFCs can stay in a human body for several years.

PFC Research Studies Point to Definitive Health Risks

Currently, PFCs are a subject of intense research and very little is known on their impact on human health. Laboratory studies on animals indicate that PFCs in high concentrations can harm liver and other organs. Exposure to PFCs during pregnancy led to development problems in the offspring of mice. One of the PFCs - perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is linked to causes of human cancer.

Since 1951, DuPont plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia has released PFOA into the air and the Ohio River. In 2001, local residents filled a lawsuit against DuPont declaring health problems occurred as a result of drinking contaminated water. The lawsuit was settled and the company agreed to fund a research project to investigate if PFOA exposure can cause measurable health changes.

Researchers from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have found that the level of concentration of PFOA among local people exposed was much higher than the country average. Another finding was that children with high concentration of PFCs in blood reach puberty about 4 to 6 months later than their peers.

As a result of a long campaign and pressure from environmental groups and health advocacy organizations, in 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency and six major PFOA makers agreed to eliminate the chemical from the production and use by 2015.

This was a great success, but PFOA is still used in factories abroad, particularly in China, and products containing PFCs are still entering the U.S. market.