BOISE, Idaho — Tap water across the country may be harming people's health. A new study released in July 2023 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) states 45% of U.S. tap water has at least one type of potentially dangerous chemicals in it.
A separate study found those chemicals in some of Boise's water. PFAS, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of man-made chemicals. They are also known as "forever chemicals" because they can stay in the environment for thousands of years.
Studies show they could cause health problems in people and animals. PFAS are usually found in non-stick items and things that are stain, water and fire resistant. They are basically in everything we use, wear and eat.
"They're everywhere. Everywhere we look, there's PFAS in rivers, drinking water, surface water, groundwater," said Dr. Douglas Sims, an environmental science professor at the College of Southern Nevada.
The CDC states they are in things like shampoo, dental floss, make up, microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes.
The USGS said more than 12,000 types of these chemicals exist, but current testing can only find about 30 of them. Because there are so many, and they're in a variety of products, understanding the potential health risks to people is difficult.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said studies highlight links between exposure to PFAS and health problems like reproductive issues, developmental delays in kids, cancer, weaker immune systems and interference with hormones.
"PFAS is an integrated disrupter at low levels. And that's very important for our system, especially if you're a woman who's pregnant or you're breastfeeding, or you have young children. We don't want to impact their future endocrine system with these compounds...," Sims said. "The best thing we need to look at is how does it affect the developing child. Bioaccumulation in people at my age isn't really that big of a deal at this point. But, in the young kids, we're not going to see the effects for probably 20, 30 years."
Two recent local studies looked at levels of PFAS in the water around the Boise area.
The USGS conducted one and researchers from the College of Southern Nevada-- a community college in Clark County, Nevada-- did the other.
The U.S. Geologic Survey took samples from people's' taps, with water coming from Veolia, a Boise water utility. They found no PFAS in the one sample they took in Boise.
Dr. Sims and his team took 10 samples from a three-mile stretch of the Boise River, downstream from the Boise wastewater treatment plant. The team found PFAS in these samples.
"What we found in Boise of the 7 compounds of PFAS, we came across 5 that are definitely present while 3 were relatively high," Sims said.
The USGS and the College of Southern Nevada researchers used two different testing methods. The USGS has their own proprietary method. The College of Southern Nevada researchers used a method approved by the EPA.
If PFAS have been since the 1940s, why are they important to keep track of?
"The real concern is that we want to know what's going to happen, not today, because there's not much we can do. But, what's going to happen downstream, and what's goin to happen to the food web, because these levels, while relatively low are very high for organisms within the water," Sims said.
The researchers from the College of Southern Nevada took those samples as part of a larger study looking at the western U.S.
Overall, they found PFAS concentrations proportional to population meaning, the more people, the higher the concentrations.
"We looked at every river that we could, mainly through populated cities. The Boise River is a great example of a river that originates in a non-populated area goes through a populated area and then exits back into a populated area," Sims said.
Even in areas where there aren't many people, he found human impact.
"A lot of those compounds become what we call aerosolized. It's in the rains because it gets in the clouds and drops into a raw area, the wilderness and ends up in the river at low levels. It's still important because it's a man-made compound," Sims said. "They can be up there for several years, the residence time up in the clouds...eventually when it does fall, it's going to fall in a place that it didn't originate."
The College of Southern Nevada research team didn't just find PFAS in the Boise River, they also found pharmaceutical and recreational drugs like acetaminophen, lidocaine, ketamine and norfentanyl. Norfentanyl is what's left of fentanyl after your body processes it.
These drugs are in the Boise River water because even after bodies process them, lower concentrations end up in waste, which ends up back in the water.
"We're seeing the averages in the Boise River is not unusual. But, our impact to the (Boise River), as humans, the anthropogenic effect is clearly seen within the actual water chemistry when you look at what's present in the water," Sims said.
Officials have found PFAS in southern Idaho before. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality found them at Mountain Home Air Force Base and at Gowen Field.
In Mountain Home, PFAS were found in the drinking water. To avoid chemical concentrations in the water, the Department of Defense changed the source of the drinking water to avoid the contaminated one.
The DEQ said there are no public drinking water sources on the Gowen Field Base property. They added, as of now, neither base has completed PFAS remediation.
The Air Force is doing a remedial investigation at Mountain Home Air Base right now. They are going to be sampling wells this fall. Gowen Field has a remedial investigation scheduled to start in the next year, according to DEQ.
Besides the two air bases, DEQ said PFAS were also found in local public water systems including Capitol Water Corporation which serves Boise, Garden City Water and Sewer System, Veolia, and a well that serves part of Eagle (Lexington Hills neighborhood).
PFAS were also found in a well that serves an Early Childhood Education Program in Mountain Home. The “Migrant and Seasonal Head Start” provides care for young kids (kids under 5) of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers.
DEQ said these tests are voluntary and they've been "providing PFAS sampling free of charge to all of Idaho's public water systems since April of 2021."
These chemicals are measured in parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt). So even at very low levels, PFAS have the potential to affect human health.
There are no federal regulations around levels of PFAS in the water or in the air. But, there are some proposals in the works. The EPA is working to set limits in public drinking water systems. Once that's finalized, the government could require mitigations if concentrations get too high. The proposed limit for some of them is 4 ppt (parts per trillion).
Some states are working to limit PFAS through new legislation.
The Washington State Department of Health says as of February 2023, PFAS are restricted for some items that touch food like food wrappers and pizza boxes. And more will be added to the list in 2024, including paper bowls, bags, sleeves, trays, cups and containers.
In May of this year, Oregon also banned takeout food containers with Styrofoam and PFAS.
Idaho doesn't have anything in the works that would do the same.
Sims said we can all try to limit our exposure to protect our health and the health of future generations.
"It's here for a long time and our goal is to get ahead of it and make the public aware," he said.
He added we shouldn't store large amounts of bottled foods or drinks in our garages. The heat in your garage can cause chemicals from the bottles to get into whatever is inside the container. He also suggested only buying what you need for one week at a time, that way, the bottles don't sit for too long, and allow the chemicals to leach out over time. Also, paper straws have a water resistant lining that contains PFAS.
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