In the September issue of FE, the Manufacturing News column looked at the ever-present, ever-dangerous chemicals in the PFAS family of compounds—actually numbering around 4,000 unique compounds altogether, each with a fluorinated chain, which makes the PFAS substance resistant to chemical and thermal breakdown. The most common forms of PFAS chemicals have been used in fire-fighting foams for petroleum fires (think aircraft) and in non-stick coatings of cookware.
While the FDA shared some good news that the elimination of these chemicals in food and beverages has been very successful, drinking water sources can contain these chemicals if wells or water bodies (streams, creeks, rivers, etc.) receive runoff from contaminated land. Since public water treatment works (POTWs) test for and filter these chemicals out of the water before it is distributed to customers, PFAS is not a problem. However, for private wells or untested water sources, that’s another story—because unless the water is tested, the owner will have no idea if remediation is needed