Report: States, Feds should confront PFAS crisis

Posted at 12:45 p.m. on September 11, 2019

The Brillion News

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The National Wildlife Federation said, in a new report, that clean water protections, water infrastructure investment, and new research are all needed to protect health of people and wildlife from toxic PFAS contamination.

Studies have linked PFAS chemicals to testicular, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer; weakened childhood immunity; low birth weight; endocrine disruption; increased cholesterol and weight gain in children and dieting adults.

Per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, are a family of thousands of chemicals used to make water-, grease- and stain-repellent coatings for a vast array of consumer goods and industrial applications. These chemicals are notoriously persistent in the environment and the human body, and some have been linked to serious health hazards.

As communities across the Great Lakes region grapple with contaminated drinking water due to toxic PFAS chemicals, the new National Wildlife Federation report outlines how state and federal officials can and should set clean water protections, support water infrastructure investment, and back cutting-edge research to prevent and remediate insidious PFAS pollution.

The new report, “The Science and Policy of PFASs in the Great Lakes Region: A Roadmap for Local, State and Federal Action,” details the science around a family of toxic chemicals known as PFAS – focusing on impacts in the Great Lakes region – as well as policy and legal solutions to tackle the problem.

The report also examines efforts to address PFAS in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The complete report on PFAS and the dangers they present to human and animal health will be featured in the September 19 print edition of THE BRILLION NEWS.