WASHINGTON— Almost half of agua America’s tap is contaminated with virtually indestructible chemical agents (FPAS), which can increase the risk of cancer, reduce fertility and interfere with immune responses, according to a study posted this week.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), also known as the “everlasting chemicals,” break down almost completely.
Research in the past has shown that, because they accumulate in the body, over time they can have detrimental effects on the healthespecially in the reproductive and immune systems, in development, in organs such as the liver and kidneys, and have even been found, in animal studies, to cause tumors.
“We estimate that at least one PFAS could be detected in approximately 45% of US drinking water samples”reads the study published this week by the United States Geological Survey (USGC, for its acronym in English).
And exposure is higher in urban areas.
The results indicate that “the probabilities of detection of these substances vary in space between rural areas (8%) to more than 70% in urban areas.”
It is also more prevalent, the study adds, in the Great Plains, Great Lakes, East Coast, and central and southern California regions.
This is the first time that PFASs in tap water have been tested and compared on a large scale.
“USGS scientists analyzed water collected directly from the kitchen sinks of people across the country, providing the most comprehensive study to date on PFAS in tap waterboth from private wells and from public supplies,” USGS hydrologist Kelly Smalling, lead author of the paper, said in a statement.
Concentrations were similar between public supplies and private wells, according to this study, based on samples taken between 2016 and 2021 at 716 locations.
There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, and not all of them can be detected with current tests. The study analyzed 32 using a method developed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory.
FPAS are present in household items, such as pizza boxes, non-stick cookware, cleaning products or fire-fighting foams, but also in food packaged in products that contain them, in production plants of various industries and in Water.
Since the 1940s they have been manufactured for various industries around the world, but recently several countries have restricted their production by including these agents in environmental protection regulations.
FUENTE: AFP
