Amid expanded testing for “forever chemicals” in Ohio’s water, experts have said the chemicals found in the water we drink every day can lead to long-term environmental and health problems.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” are synthetic organic compounds that can be found in products used in everyday life, including perfumes, single-use packaging, nail polish, makeup and skincare.
PFAS have also been found on every continent, including Antarctica, according to the Brown School of Public Health.
Exposure to PFAS can cause health issues like thyroid disease, liver damage, elevated cholesterol and decreased vaccine response, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
PFAS are also heat-, water- and oil-resistant, meaning the chemicals are difficult to eradicate.
BG Falcon Media spoke to Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Associate Professor Joe Furgal about PFAS, and what students should know about the “forever chemicals” and where they are present.
What do we do about PFAS?
Furgal, who has researched PFAS for years, said that while there are methods for trying to eliminate PFAS that are already present in the environment, there is no “golden ticket” when it comes to destruction.
“What’s already in the environment is extremely difficult to get rid of,” said Furgal.
Many of the current methods of PFAS destruction don’t actually get rid of the chemical but merely break into down into smaller particles that are harder to collect.
Furgal, who works in BGSU’s Chemistry Department, said it’s more cost-effective and time-saving to focus efforts on reducing the amount of new PFAS used in widely distributed products.
“The best you can do is try to mitigate how much is actually being generated,” said Furgal.
Some products are harder to replace than others, especially those used for aerospace engineering and airplanes, which rely heavily on PFAS because of their durability and resistance to extreme heat.
“Silicone can fill in some of the gaps of PFAS, but there’s no way you can get all the properties for everything those offer you, and that’s why they’re not totally banned,” said Furgal.
How PFAS affect drinking water
PFAS have been found in drinking water across the United States, and efforts are underway to determine how many PFAS are present in the water in Bowling Green.
The City of Bowling Green is required by state and federal EPA regulations to test drinking water for contaminants and report those results to the public, said Theresa Pollick, the public information officer for the Northwestern Water and Sewer District.
However, PFAS levels in drinking water aren’t among the contaminants required to be reported— a rule set to change by 2027 following a directive from the EPA.
In addition to new federal reporting requirements, the state of Ohio has also made moves regarding PFAS, as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine initiated Ohio’s PFAS Action Plan 1.0 after ordering research on the prevalence of PFAS in Ohio’s water in 2019.
Ohio’s PFAS Action Plan 2.0 is currently underway and making strides to limit PFAS use and exposure through mitigation, sampling, source investigations, advisories, funding and settlements, education and data tracking and mapping.
Under the Action Plan 2.0, the H2Ohio Rivers program, a statewide river water testing program for PFAS, launched in 2023, spent $1.59 million in testing. In this program, the water, fish body and fillet tissue and macroinvertebrate (animals without a backbone, such as crustaceans and worms) tissue were tested for PFAS.
Sampling began in fall of 2023 and concluded in fall 2024. The EPA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources received funding to analyze PFAS levels in fish tissue from Lake Erie in Aug. 2024, with results from the study expected sometime this spring.
DeWine also signed a law prohibiting the use of PFAS-laden Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), a flame retardant sprayed on fires, in firefighter training in March 2022.
PFAS-free flame retardants have been developed and distributed in recent years, providing a less-harmful alternative to AFFF. As a result, Ohio began an AFFF takeback program where the government will collect AFFF from local fire departments free of charge.
For more information about PFAS, see the EPA’s page.
