Is PFAS in Your Drinking Water? - Go Organic Campaign
18213
wp-singular,post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-18213,single-format-standard,wp-theme-bridge,wp-child-theme-bridge-child,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode-child-theme-ver-1.0.0,qode-theme-ver-13.1.2,qode-theme-bridge,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-5.4.5,vc_responsive

Is PFAS in Your Drinking Water?

Home > Featured  > Is PFAS in Your Drinking Water?

04 Aug Is PFAS in Your Drinking Water?

Posted at 21:54h in Featured, Primary Post, Public Health by
0 Likes

Easily and inexpensively test your well or municipal drinking water 

When I found out I had elevated levels of five different PFAS in my blood, I decided to see if my water supply might be contaminated by PFAS as a possible source of my exposure. My household is supplied by the public water supply from Baltimore City, but I was unable to find any results of PFAS testing for this water source.

I found an affordable in-home test for 55 different PFAS compounds, Cyclopure’s Water Test Kit Pro, which cost $79 per water sample.

It was easy to obtain the samples, which I took from unfiltered tap water and from water that had passed through my refrigerator’s filter. The kit contained instructions, the sample cup with its Dexsorb extraction disk filter, a pair of gloves to prevent external contamination and a mailing label to place on the shipping box to return it to the lab. The sample cup is filled with water, which is then allowed to pass through the extraction filter, a process that took 20-25 minutes. I set the sample on top of a glass jar while the water drained through.

Once the sample cup had emptied, I recapped it and put it back in the shipping box with my information about the sample on a card, placed the return label over the original label, sealed the box, and dropped it off at a local UPS site (return shipping is included in the price).

The results came back approximately 2 weeks after I had sent the specimens, and I was relieved to find that my drinking water was below the EPA’s enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for the 5 PFAS and one mixture for which these standards were determined. Four additional PFAS, which do not have an MCL, were detected, but these levels were also below the lowest of the MCLs for the other PFAS. I also found that my refrigerator filter, which is not labeled as a PFAS filter, had actually reduced the total PFAS levels by half. (It isn’t a reverse osmosis system or a granular activated carbon filter).

While I didn’t find the source of my elevated PFAS blood levels, I had the reassurance that the water in my home is not significantly contaminated or adding to my PFAS burden, thanks to a simple and fairly inexpensive water test.

  • by Michael Ichniowski, M.D.