Drinking water in this NC county has the most ‘forever chemicals’ in the US, study says
This article is published through the N.C. News Collaborative, a partnership of BH Media, Gannett and McClatchy newspapers in North Carolina that aims to better inform readers throughout the state.
An Eastern North Carolina county had highest the rate in the country for water contaminated with certain chemicals, according to a study released this week.
Brunswick County had the most PFAS contamination, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, of 44 water samples taken across the nation in 2019, the Environmental Working Group said in its study released Wednesday.
PFAS are “a group of man-made chemicals” that include GenX, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Also among them are PFOA and PFOs, which have been used in industries around the world, including the United States.
Both chemicals “don’t break down and they can accumulate over time,” according to the EPA. “There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects.”
Brunswick had 85.9 parts per trillion of PFAS, the study said.
Wilmington, at 50.5 parts per trillion, was also in the top five on the list, which ranks 31 states and the District of Columbia for presence of PFAS contaminants.
“This was a broader look at PFASs,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on human health and the environment. The group wanted to expand on the testing and the types of testing that have been done in the past.
“We found that there are places that need to act quickly to remove the contamination,” he said. “It’s a higher priority for those places higher on the list.”
While the study found PFAS contaminants are present in rainwater and all major U.S. water supplies, locally the high levels are likely a result of the legacy of the Chemours facility in Fayetteville discharging these chemicals into the Cape Fear River.
Brunswick County’s sample was collected from Belville Elementary School by the nonprofit group Clean Cape Fear, said Monica Amarelo, a spokesperson for EWG.
“This really puts our contamination in perspective, how it relates to the rest of the county,” said Emily Donovan, with Clean Cape Fear. “It’s alarming. We are still living in an area with an active problem.”
Brunswick County’s PFAS level also puts it above the level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is 70 parts per trillion, or ppt. Andrews said, however, that the EWG recommended level is much lower, 1 ppt.
PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down and can build up in blood and organs.
“Studies show that the level in blood can be 100 times the level in water,” he said.
Only a few locations in the study, including Seattle and Tuscaloosa, Ala., showed levels of PFAS under 1 ppt.
The samples were collected by staff or volunteers between May and December 2019 and analyzed by an independent laboratory for 30 different PFAS chemicals.
Brunswick County Public Utilities and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority both regularly test samples for PFAS as well. The utility authority tests for more than 40 PFAS compounds.
Samples show that levels of PFAS in the Cape Fear River can fluctuate significantly over time, said Vaughn Hagerty, spokesperson for the authority. But this contamination will likely be a local issue for some time.
Hagerty said the utility group is taking steps to reduce PFAS and began a $43 million project in November to build eight new deep-bed granular activated carbon filters at its Sweeney Water Treatment Plant.
“We’re taking these steps to address a problem caused by Chemours and DuPont during their years of profitable operation upriver from us,” he said. “We believe Chemours and DuPont should be paying for the costs to address the problems they caused.”
Andrews agrees.
“In some cases, action needs to be taken soon and the cost should be paid by the polluter,” he said.
Brunswick County officials responded to the study results by defending their water quality efforts, while discussing ongoing efforts to manage the contamination.
Daniel Seamans, with Brunswick County Schools, said that operations continue as normal, but bottled water was sent to Belville Elementary.
“We are providing the option of bottled water for students/staff on-site to help ease minds regarding the recent report,” he said in a statement.
Government officials were also was quick to defend the county’s record and efforts against groundwater issues.
“Brunswick County’s water samples have continuously remained below the EPA’s established health advisory levels for PFOA and PFOS and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ established provisional health goal for GenX,” said Meagan Kascsak, a public information officer for the county, adding the county would notify customers and residents if that changed.
Can I drink the water?
“We are in a far better position than we were three years ago,” said Larry Cahoon, a University of North Carolina Wilmington biologist. “But we don’t know how much damage has been done by the decades of exposure.”
PFAS has been connected to increased cancer rates and changes in liver, thyroid and pancreas function. While science is getting a better understanding of the danger of certain compounds, PFOA and PFOS, he said that there are many unknown about other PFAS compounds.
“Ideally, you want none of this in your water,” he said.
These chemicals are odorless and tasteless and difficult to remove from the water supply. The EWG report notes that granular activated carbon, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis are the most common methods. Reverse osmosis, while expensive, is the most effective. Reserve osmosis water is also available for purchase locally, and systems can be installed in homes.
What’s next?
Water quality advocates are pushing for more legislative regulations for PFAS, said Emily Donovan, with the local advocacy group Clean Cape Fear. This could result in recommended health advisories for PFAS as a whole or more funds to remove contaminants from water supplies.
“It’s a bigger story than GenX,” she said.
“It’s been difficult to even regulate PFOA and PFOS,” Cahoon said. “Once there are regulations, we can have limits and monitoring.”
Kascsak also said the county is embarking on a project to install a reverse osmosis treatment system at the Northwest Water Treatment Plant. And late Wednesday afternoon, Leland-based H2GO Brunwick Water & Sewer said it is still committed to secure an alternate water supply and bring an aquifer-based reverse osmosis water treatment plant to fruition.
Locals can also keep up with PFAS testing done by local utilities because the levels can fluctuate over time. Of the regular testing done by Brunswick County Public Utilities, for example, the total PFAS levels are sometimes around 50 ppt, as was the case for recent testing in December. And sometimes more than 390 ppt, such as for a sample collected in October.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Drinking water in this NC county has the most ‘forever chemicals’ in the US, study says."
