BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Officials in Broward County are taking action after toxic chemicals were discovered in the water.
The find was made after a review by Broward Commissioner Mark Bogen.
He said this is part of a national problem the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to fight.
“PFAS is everywhere,” Bogen said. “People don’t realize it.”
The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are better known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”
Thousands of chemicals fall under this title and are found in everyday industrial and consumer products used for cleaning, packaging and cooking — just to name a few.
Long-term exposure to these chemicals are still being studied but have been linked to severe health issues, including cancer and other diseases.
“I think the people need to know what they’re drinking and what’s in the water, and if there’s something that’s potentially not safe, they need to know about it,” Bogen said.
Bogen and county officials tested tap water samples from six Broward County cities. Those samples were compared to two county samples along with several name-brand bottles of water.
All bottled water came out on top.
“None of them showed any trace of PFAS,” Bogen said during Tuesday’s commission meeting.
“Where we did the six cities, it showed traces of PFAS,” he later told Local 10. “So people need to know that these are toxic chemicals — they’re forever chemicals and they can be harmful to you.”
The EPA is looking to cap PFOA and PFOS at four parts per trillion, essentially the lowest level at which they can be reliably measured.
The Broward city samples showed numbers significantly higher than that.
The agency found nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. contains these “forever chemicals” as well and is looking to further regulate the water.
Broward County officials are planning ahead to meet the expected requirements in the future.
Authorities are waiting for federal guidance as the studies continue, but believe this is a problem.
“Cities in Broward County will need to take action in the future to reduce the amount of PFAS in the water,” Bogen said. “Usually that happens with reverse osmosis.”
Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher added that water plants would likely need to be retrofitted to properly treat the water.
See the results of Broward County’s water test below:
RELATED LINKS
EPA on PFAS: https://www.epa.gov/pfas
EPA on polyfluoroalkyl substances: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/research-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas
Florida Department of Environmental Protection on addressing PFAS: https://floridadep.gov/waste/waste-cleanup/content/dep’s-efforts-address-pfas-environment