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nixstyx t1_jcfaqb7 wrote

Reply to comment by goodwilhuntingseason in New proposed PFAS limits applauded by activists by smartest_kobold

I can see the governor's concern, and I'm concerned it won't even be possible to meet the new limits. Several brands of bottled water have levels higher than the new limits. I don't know how many public water supplies in NH have higher levels, but I know many do. The bigger problem is testing. There aren't that many labs capable of testing for the presence of PFAS at levels this low.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have water with zero PFAS. I just don't see how we get there with what we currently have.

And, to another commenter's point, our food supply is also contaminated. Eliminating PFAS in drinking water does nothing to address the PFAS absorbed by plants and animals that we eat.

If the science shows it's dangerous at even these low levels then it needs to be banned everywhere, not just drinking water.

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mattd121794 t1_jcfetya wrote

Seems like a first step in a series that will eventually lead to the ban of PFAS. As the saying goes "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." This is still progress and will push us forward towards both discontinuing the use of PFAS and better and more testing for PFAS in various areas of the NH ecosystem.

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Tullyswimmer t1_jcfw43u wrote

See, this is not "a good first step" if it immediately sets the standard so high it's almost impossible to reach. A "good first step" would be setting the standard high, but within what's realistically possible or practical, and then pushing for it to increase more later.

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Relleomylime t1_jcffzpk wrote

I work in ag and we're following this closely as the biggest issue is they want to regulate PFAS under CERCLA aka Superfund. The reason PFAS is in your food is because ag was licensed to spread fertilizer made from waste water treatment plants on their fields before anyone thought PFAS was an issue. Unless you scrape all of the top soil off all of your local farms it will continue to leech into the local water regardless of eliminating any local chemical manufacturing run off.

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nixstyx t1_jcg6spn wrote

Agree. There's also an additional source of PFAS in food, and that's ongoing air and water pollution. In my town, Saint Gobain rendered many private wells unfit for use, due to airborne PFAS that settled or otherwise precipitated out of the atmosphere into the soil and water. Around the country we're also finding trace amounts of PFAS miles from any known source, the theory being it spread through air or rainwater.

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nblastoff t1_jcgxxd0 wrote

>.

Hi Five for being screwed by st gobain! i got a pfas removal system put in my house that brought my water from 17 parts per trillion to undetectable

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