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Abigail Hendershott, District Supervisor, MDEQ PFAS are part of a family of about 5,000 man made chemicals all invented after WWII. Most common two types that we are dealing with today are PFOS and PFOA. Used to make products that resist water, stains and heat. It does not break down, which makes it great for heat and stain resistance, but also makes it stick around in the environment for a very, very long time. Also present in firefighting foams, and lots of it has been deployed over the decades and remains in the environment. Why is it such a problem? Pervasive, persistent, does not biodegrade, it bio-accumulates, associated with adverse health effects, scarce information in scientific literature and a lack of sufficient standards. State of Michigan clean up standards are 70 ppt of PFOS and PFOA. What are we doing about it? Lots of investigation: - MPART (Michigan PFAS Response Team) is the DEQ response to the problem.
- Municipal drinking water analysis. 1,119 municipal samples, 461 schools sampled and 168 daycare facilities.
- Only one municipal system (Parchment) and one school (Robinson School) found to have levels that exceed State clean up criteria
- 40 PFAS contaminated sites across the state
- Biosolids study - wastewater treatment facilities that land apply the sludge from their plants may be passing PFAS on to the crops we eat and the groundwater beneath the fields.
- Deer and fish have been found to have elevated levels of PFAS. Check out "Eat Safe Fish" publication put out by MSU. DO not eat oder on ROuge River in Kent County and Huron River in Washtenaw County. DO not eat deer from Wurtsmith Air Force base (Clark's Marsh)!
- All detail and findings available at MIOTTAWA and State DEQ website.
- Replacement compounds are available, but impact is unknown at this time
For more information: www.michigan.gov/PFASresponse If you have more questions, please contact Abigail at ahendershott@michigan.gov |
