What are PFAS and should you be worried about it?

Category: Healthy Nutrition

Despite the modern water treatment systems that we have today, water contamination is still prevalent.

Microbial contamination is still a challenge for developing countries where the water supply itself is not safe for drinking and cooking.

Even modern municipal water plants are contaminated with heavy metals linked to a broad range of health issues.

A few examples include the arsenic poisoning of well water in Bangladesh, the exposure to dangerous levels of lead in tap water in Flint, Michigan, and chromium contamination in drinking water in Hinkley, California.

LeeAnne Walters shows water samples from her Flint home. Photograph: Ryan Garza/AP

Dr. Bruce Daggy covered these cases and more in the wellness webcast, A Case Study of Water Contamination.

You can watch the replay here.

PFAS: The Forever Chemicals

There are many potential contaminants out there, things that we put into the environment that can get into the water supply that water treatment plants are not necessarily removing.

One that you may have heard about is a class of compounds called PFAS, also known as the forever chemicals. PFAS persists in the environment and affects reproductive health and birth outcomes.

Unfortunately, drinking water is a major source of PFAS exposure.

In this short video, Dr. Daggy breaks down how PFAS moves through the environment and contaminates our food supply and water systems.

So what can you as an individual do to ensure that your drinking water is safe?

Check with your local water authority and find out what's in your drinking water and what steps they are taking to ensure the safety of your water. You can also access your drinking water report from the US EPA website.

Consider additional purification of your drinking and cooking water. I recommend Shaklee's Get Clean Water Pitcher. Its carbon block filter significantly reduces lead and other harmful contaminants in the water.

Finally, don't add more to the contamination of the water that's leaving your house than you need to. Choosing safe, biodegradable cleaning and laundry products also helps reduce toxic chemicals that get into your wastewater and back into the water system.

Here's to safe drinking water!

Lucy