The results of a study that tested rainwater in some of the world’s most isolated locations—the Tibetan Plateau, the High Arctic, and Antarctica—were released in the summer of 2022. These locations are so far from industry and agriculture that they are frequently used as benchmarks for what “uncontaminated” looks like. PFAS were present in every sample. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory limits were surpassed in each sample. The experts came to the conclusion that rainwater everywhere on Earth is now unsafe to drink without treatment—a conclusion that has the quality of something worded very carefully to avoid appearing alarmist while being inevitably frightening. This is not a local issue. Being close to a plant or a military installation does not solve the issue. The atmosphere contains the chemicals. In the rain, they descend.
The term “forever chemicals” was given to PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of about 12,000 synthetic compounds created starting in the 1940s, since the carbon-fluorine link at its heart is one of the strongest in organic chemistry. It doesn’t malfunction. Not in soil, not in water, not in the human body, not in the environment. Even now, a PFAS molecule that was discharged into the environment during Eisenhower’s presidency is still in circulation, building up in fish tissue, sediments, and the blood of people who have never worn a waterproof jacket or used a nonstick skillet. In a significant 2023 study, the USGS discovered PFAS in about 45% of US tap water samples; however, this number may be understated because testing procedures vary and many smaller water systems are not routinely monitored.
Although the public’s attention has been delayed, the health implications have been accumulating in the peer-reviewed research over the past 20 years. Over time, exposure to PFAS has been associated with reduced fertility, delayed child development, immune system suppression, thyroid disruption, and an increased risk of many cancers, the most well-known of which are kidney and testicular cancer.
The unsettling aspect is that these effects manifest at extremely low concentrations—not the kind of spectacular industrial disaster that makes the nightly news, but the kind of subtle, long-term background exposure that most people never consider attributing to anything specific. The most obvious evidence of harm can be found in communities close to military bases where PFAS-containing firefighting foams were used for decades. One such location is Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where the story of contaminated water took years to gain national attention and even longer to result in federal accountability.
In the consumption economy, exposure sources are ubiquitous. cookware that doesn’t stick. food packaging, especially for oily foods. textiles that are waterproof. stain-resistant upholstery and carpet. various cosmetics, such as foundations and mascaras. The chemical characteristics of the compounds make them heat-stable, water-resistant, and slippery in ways that few other substitutes can match, which is why they are utilized. The industrial reasoning behind their use is simple. As the data mounts, it becomes more difficult to justify the public health justification for their continued use; yet, the regulatory process has advanced more slowly than the rate of research.
It’s difficult to ignore the stark discrepancy between what the public was told about PFAS during that time and what experts have known for years. Long before regulators started taking action, the firms that produced these chemicals, most notably DuPont and 3M, had internal data showing health risks. The subsequent settlements, such as 3M’s $10.3 billion deal with US water utilities in 2023, corroborate the general outline of the incident without completely resolving it.
The substances remain in the water. They are still being carried by the rain. Filtration systems can partially address the issue of contamination that is already present everywhere, not only in the vicinity of industrial sites but also in the blood of the majority of living humans. However, no single action can address the issue at the scale at which it truly exists.
