They’re called “forever chemicals” because it’s just so hard to get rid of them.

Collectively known as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), they are found in everyday kitchen products like food packaging and nonstick frying pans, as well as carpets, water-proof jackets and the foam used to fight fires.

Once they degrade, they contaminate the environment and seep into drinking water supplies, creating a litany of health concerns.

Through the years, leading environmental groups have tied them to cancer, low birthweights, thyroid function, and other ailments.

And this month, in a nod to growing concerns, the nation’s leading environmental watchdog — the Environmental Protection Agency — took the rare step of announcing that allowable levels for PFAS in drinking water it established six years ago were far too high.

It issued new health advisories for PFOA and PFOS — two of the most widely used of thousands of PFAS — placing their acceptable drinking water levels near zero, a level so low it currently can’t be measured.

In 2016, the EPA had set the health risk level at 70-parts per trillion. New York went even further four years later, establishing a ten-parts per trillion standard for the chemicals in drinking water.

“The EPA’s announcement is a game changer,” said Rob Hayes, the director of Clean Water for Environmental Advocates NY. “And it should have huge ripple effects in terms of how New York regulates PFAS in drinking water. EPA science makes clear and confirms what advocates have said for a long time – that there is no safe level of exposure to PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.”

A trade group for the chemical industry accused the EPA of rushing an announcement before an EPA science advisory board has had the chance to issue its findings on the toxicity of PFOA and PFOS.

“While they are non-regulatory levels, they will have sweeping implications for policies at the state and federal levels,” the American Chemical Council said in a statement. “Getting the science right is of critical importance.”

The council represents manufacturers like DuPont, 3M and Honeywell.

While non-binding, the EPA’s advisories could influence the direction New York takes in the months ahead.

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New York weighing regulation

State officials say they are reviewing the EPA’s latest advisory and are awaiting the release of new PFAS standards, which are expected later this year. 

“Until then, New York will continue to work closely with EPA on their PFAS guidance, while upholding the strictest regulatory standards possible and using the best available science to ensure protections for water quality and public health,” state Health Department spokesman Cort Ruddy said.

The EPA’s announcement comes as the state weighs an expansion of the types of PFAS it currently regulates.

Last month, the state’s Drinking Water Council — a group that includes the commissioners of the state Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation as well as experts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and other universities— recommended acceptable drinking water levels for 23 other PFAS that have not previously been regulated.

Draft regulations will be published in the coming weeks. The public will then have opportunity to weigh in before the Health Department decides whether to adopt new standards. If adopted, residents in communities where contaminant levels are determined to be too high would be notified.

The outcome of all this is likely to have broader implications for water departments across the state already grappling with the cost of upgrades to identify PFAS contaminants in drinking supplies.

The village of Nyack, for one, is in the midst of designing and financing what will be a multi-million dollar treatment facility.

Some water department heads are already hunting around for a lab to do the testing.

“I don’t think we can find a lab that gets that low as of yet,” said Wayne Vradenburgh, the superintendent of the city of Newburgh’s water department. “I’m assuming the labs are scrambling trying to figure out how to do that.”

One part per trillion is equivalent to one droplet in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, experts say.

And, Vradenburgh said, testing for PFAS contaminants can be expensive, a cost that’s passed onto consumers in rate increases.

The EPA says states can apply for some $1 billion in funding to address PFAS and other contaminants in drinking water, especially in small and disadvantaged communities. “People on the front-lines of PFAS contamination have suffered for far too long,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

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Newburgh battling contamination

In New York, that front-line is in the city of Newburgh, an aging industrial town of 29,000 on the Hudson River, some 60 miles north of New York City.

There, the EPA’s announcement was viewed as long overdue.

Jennifer Rawlison was at the conference of government officials, scientists and advocates in Wilmington, N.C. where EPA officials announced the new advisories two weeks ago. She’s a member of the Newburgh Clean Water Project, which has pushed state and local officials to ensure the safety of the city’s water supply.

“There was excitement and enthusiasm towards the announcement because for so long, especially in communities that have been effected, this is something that’s always been of concern,” Rawlison said.

Rawlison was among those who thought the 70-parts per trillion standard the EPA adopted in 2016 would do little to protect public health.

“Many people felt that was way too high back then,” she said. “Since then, studies are showing that it needs to be drastically reduced. So in some ways this is a big leap forward.”

In 2016, PFOS levels of 150-170 parts per trillion were detected in Lake Washington, prompting the city to shift its water source to the Catksill Aqueduct.

Rawlison says the entire class of PFAS — not just those already singled out by the EPA — should be regulated so they can be filtered from water supplies.

“When you understand how many of these chemicals are being produced and manufactured and created every day, this is just a small fraction of the reality of our world,” Rawlison said.

The chemical council, meanwhile, says there are some 600 PFAS currently used in renewable energy and medical supplies that are critical to the nation’s supply chain. “Each chemistry has its own unique properties and uses, as well as unique environmental and health profiles,” the council says.

Gauging public health

The long-term health consequences from Newburgh’s PFAS exposure are not clear.

But, in January, Newburgh was one of two New York communities chosen to participate in a five-year, seven-state study of health concerns caused by exposure to PFAS in drinking water.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study will be run locally by the state Department of Health and SUNY Albany’s School of Public Health. Other states being studied are California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

“The study really came because of the advocacy of the communities,” said Erin Bell, a SUNY Albany professor who has studied the links between environmental exposures and adverse health effects. “And we recognize that and it’s really important that they have their voice.”

The study will also include Hoosick Falls in Rensselaer County, where in 2015 PFOA above the EPA’s health advisory levels at the time — 400 parts per trillion — was discovered in its public drinking water supply.

Organizers began signing up participants in January. One thousand adults and 300 children will be studied. Their blood and urine will be tested for PFAS levels and they’ll be checked for health issues like cholesterol as well as kidney, liver and thyroid function. Children will be given behavioral assessments.

The findings could be used to guide New York and other states as they chart path for regulating PFAS.

“We’re very hopeful that the information we gather in this study has the potential to be used for some of that decision-making process,” Bell said.

Bell said she was heartened that the EPA, in addition to setting new advisory levels for PFAS, established guidelines for successor chemicals used as substitutes for PFAS in manufacturing.

“I think it’s good that they’re considering it and that the EPA is really trying to be in the forefront in getting us to think to be as low as possible,” Bell said. “That’s what we always want. We don’t want the exposure.”

Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, economic growth and transportation for The USA Today’s Network’s New York State team. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @TomZambito

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