By Patricia Houser
For Nature’s Sake
Patricia Houser
Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals are like uninvited guests. While most of us were unaware, they sneaked into our homes and workplaces via stain resistant carpets and furniture, non-stick frying pans, take-out food containers, waterproof clothing and more. Once there, according to experts, PFAS have been ingested, inhaled (through dust), absorbed through skin and accumulating in our bodies where, it turns out, these “forever chemicals” tend to accumulate. According to the Yale Global Online website, 99 percent of Americans have man-made PFAS chemicals in their bodies.
Spurred on by the health implications of any and all PFAS exposure, the federal government and several states passed legislation in 2024 that will eventually provide essential limits on the flow of per and PFAS into American homes and communities. In the meantime, for the next few years while Americans will still find unlabeled, but toxic, products on the store shelves and have them in their homes, individuals can still act to reduce their exposure.
For example, consumer demand has helped drive a trend toward more PFAS-free products, including those provided by manufacturers and retailers. The KEEN shoe company’s sneakers and other shoes are entirely PFAS-free. Ikea’s home furnishings have no PFAS. And Home Depot and Lowe’s whose carpets and rugs have no PFAS.
For further information on how PFAS affects our lives and how we may better avoid it, consider the questions and answers below:
1. First produced for commercial use in the mid-20th century, PFAS are today a source of outdoor as well as indoor contamination and can be found in:
a) the air
b) lakes and rivers
c) groundwater
d) soils
e) the rain
f) all of the above
2. True/False: Chemical manufacturers like Dupont and 3M have only recently discovered health problems linked to PFAS.
3. In which of the following products and consumables have researchers discovered PFAS chemicals?
a) candy bars
b) eggs
c) ketchup
d) dental floss
e) cosmetics
f) band aids
g) all of the above
4. When it comes to eating newly caught fish from Connecticut rivers, the state’s Department of Public Health website offers advisories on how much and whether certain fish is safe. Based on the state’s 2025 fish consumption advisory, which of the following waterbodies has the strictest warnings on eating bass fish (it has a “do not eat” warning) due to PFAS contamination?
a) Housatonic River
b) Naugatuck River
c) Quinnipiac River
d) Willimantic River
5. The Connecticut Legislature in 2024 unanimously passed a bill to reduce the use of PFAS in consumer products over the next few years. By 2028, which of the following must be PFAS-free if sold in Connecticut?
a) children’s products
b) cleaning products
c) cookware
d) carpets and rugs
e) fabrics
f) all of the above
6. The federal government passed a law with bipartisan support in 2024 to limit, by 2027, the amount of six different forms of PFAS chemicals in drinking water. According to the non-profit Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database, the public water supply for Milford and Orange:
a) has some PFAS in it but it is within safe limits, according to federal standards.
b) has PFAS levels above the required limit and will need treatment.
c) has no PFAS at all.
7. True/False: No matter what individuals do, they cannot reduce their exposure to PFAS because it’s everywhere.
Answers
1. e. All of the above. Decades of underregulated PFAS waste entering the environment through industrial smokestacks and drainpipes and years of household trash leaching from landfills and emerging from incinerators have all taken a toll.
2. False. The Environmental Working Group cites documents from 3M and Dupont showing that in the 1950s they knew PFAS chemicals could build up in our blood. Animal studies in the 1960s showed health risks, and by the 1980s their own research linked PFAS to cancer. Two short documentaries showing regional harms from PFAS production are the Great Lakes Now 2019 video, Forever Chemicals, and the 2024 WRAL story called Forever Chemicals in North Carolina’s Tap Water.
3. g. All of the above. Three go-to websites that list products with and without PFAS chemicals are greenmatters.com, mamavation.com and pfascentral.org’s webpage titled “PFAS-Free Products.”
4. d. An absolute “no eating” limit for bass because of PFAS contamination is advised for the Willimantic River system, which includes the Natchaug, Willimantic and Shetucket rivers. Though the other rivers in this question are perhaps slightly less burdened with PFAS, the state health department recommends that pregnant women not eat any bass from the Housatonic River because of PCB contamination, that consumption of bass from the Naugatuck be limited to one meal per month because of PFAS, and consumption of any fish from the Quinnipiac River be limited to one meal per month because of PFAS.
5. f. All of the above. The bill also included protections from PFAS in dental floss, ski wax, menstrual products and personal care products.
6. a. Two types of PFAS found in our public water supply have been measured at levels below the new US limit of four parts per trillion. Right now, our water is considered safe by federal standards.
7. False. You can reduce exposure to PFAS at home by filtering tap water (Consumer Reports has filter recommendations) and ) and checking on the content of materials that touch food, like parchment paper, coffee filters and sandwich bags. These, personal care products and more can be vetted via consumer research websites.
In our classrooms, homes and workplaces, where dust can be a significant source of contamination, switching out furnishings and carpets that contain PFAS is important. A 2022 Harvard T.H. Chan study showed far lower levels of PFAS in the dust of buildings where renovations had replaced older, toxic furnishings with materials free of certain PFAS chemicals.
Patricia Houser, PhD, AICP is a freelance writer and researcher focused on environment and sustainability.