By Hauwa Ali
A new research study has found that rainwater everywhere on the planet is unsafe to drink due to high levels of toxic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), man-made hazardous chemicals that are spread globally in the atmosphere which can be found in the rainwater and snow in even the most remote locations on Earth.
The research study was carried out by Stockholm University scientists and published in Environmental Science & Technology journal recently.
The researchers conducted laboratory and field work on the atmospheric presence and transport of PFAS for the past decade where they observed that the levels of some harmful PFAS in the atmosphere are not declining despite phase out of major manufacturers from two decades ago.
Also known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they disintegrate extremely slowly, PFAS were initially found in packaging, shampoo or makeup but have now spread to the entire environment, including water and air.
“There is nowhere on Earth where the rain would be safe to drink, according to the measurements that we have taken,” Ian Cousins, a professor at the university and the lead author of the study said.
“Based on the latest U.S. guidelines for PFOA in drinking water, rainwater everywhere would be judged unsafe to drink. Although in the industrial world we don’t often drink rainwater, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and it supplies many of our drinking water sources,” Cousins continue.
The researchers conclude that PFAS are now “so persistent” and ubiquitous that they will never disappear from the planet.
The continued presence of PFAS in the atmosphere is due to their properties and natural processes that continually cycle PFAS back to the atmosphere from the surface environment through the transport from seawater to marine air by sea spray aerosols.
“The extreme persistence and continual global cycling of certain PFAS will lead to the continued exceedance of the above-mentioned guidelines,” said Professor Martin Scheringer, a co-author of the study based at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.
“So now, due to the global spread of PFAS, environmental media everywhere will exceed environmental quality guidelines designed to protect human health and we can do very little to reduce the PFAS contamination. In other words, it makes sense to define a planetary boundary specifically for PFAS and, as we conclude in the paper, this boundary has now been exceeded,” said Scheringer.
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The study explained that exposure to PFAs can lead to problems with fertility, developmental delays in children, increased risks of obesity or certain cancers (prostate, kidney and testicular), an increase in cholesterol levels and once ingested, PFAS accumulate in the body.
“We have made the planet inhospitable to human life by irreversibly contaminating it now so that nothing is clean anymore. And to the point that’s it’s not clean enough to be safe”, Cousins said.
“We have crossed a planetary boundary”, he added, referring to a central paradigm for evaluating Earth’s capacity to absorb the impact of human activity.
However, the researchers noted that PFAS levels in people have actually dropped “quite significantly in the last 20 years” and “ambient levels (of PFAS in the environment) have been the same for the past 20 years”.
“What has changed is the guidelines. They’ve gone down millions of times since the early 2000s, because we’ve learned more about the toxicity of these substances.” Cousins said.
“I’m not super concerned about the everyday exposure in mountain or stream water or in the food. We can’t escape it… we’re just going to have to live with it.”
“But it’s not a great situation to be in, where we’ve contaminated the environment to the point where background exposure is not really safe.”
PFAS are harmful to health and the environment
PFAS is a collective name for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances or highly fluorinated substances that have a similar chemical structure. All PFAS are either extremely persistent in the environment or break down into extremely persistent PFAS, which has earned them the nickname “forever chemicals.”
PFAS have been associated with a wide range of serious health harms, including cancer, learning and behavioral problems in children, infertility and pregnancy complications, increased cholesterol, and immune system problems.
“It cannot be that some few benefit economically while polluting the drinking water for millions of others, and causing serious health problems. The vast amounts that it will cost to reduce PFAS in drinking water to levels that are safe based on current scientific understanding need to be paid by the industry producing and using these toxic chemicals. The time to act is now.” Dr. Jane Muncke, managing director of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zürich, Switzerland points out.
