Is your water safe? How to check for ‘forever chemicals’ and reduce toxins in Florida

The federal government this week finalized new regulations meant to make drinking water safer by reducing the amount of toxic “forever chemicals” allowed to flow from your tap.

Public water systems across the country, including in Florida, will have five years to comply with the new “legally enforceable” tap water limits for PFAS set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These long-lasting chemicals have been “linked to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children,” according to the federal agency.

PFAS are everywhere — in water, air, fish, soil and certain products — and not only take a long time to break down, but can often be found in the blood of people and animals worldwide, according to the federal agency.

These man-made chemicals are found in a lot of things, including nonstick pans, stain repellents, firefighter foam, cosmetics, food packaging and water-resistant products, according to Natalia Quinete, assistant professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at Florida International University. Quinete, who is part of FIU’s Institute of Environment, has researched PFAS levels in South Florida.

Studies have shown high exposure to PFAS can lead to cancer and other health problems. And while no amount is safe, the federal regulations are a step in the right direction, according to experts who spoke to the Miami Herald.

The federal government expects the regulations will reduce exposure to the man-made chemicals for 100 million people, “prevent thousands of deaths, and reduce tens of thousands of serious illness.”

So how safe is your tap water right now? And what can you do to reduce the risk of contamination?

Here’s what to know:

Are there ‘forever chemicals’ in South Florida’s drinking water?

Forever chemicals can be found in tap water, including in South Florida.

PFAS have tainted oysters in Biscayne Bay. High levels of these man-made chemicals pushed Miami-Dade to shut down three wells near Miami International Airport in 2019.

And Miami has previously recorded some of the highest levels of forever chemicals in the country, according to a 2020 report published by advocacy nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

At the time, PFAS levels in drinking water were not regulated, though the federal government had non-enforceable “health advisory” levels for how much of the chemicals can be in drinking water.

That’s now changed.

The “legally enforceable” regulations finalized Wednesday target six common PFAS and pose a maximum limit of “4 parts per trillion, or ppt, for PFOA and PFOS and 10 parts per trillion for GenX, PFNA and PFHxS,” according to the nonprofit. Some states had already cracked down on PFAS pollution by restricting PFAS usage in products and strengthening water treatment processes.

Translation: There should be way fewer man-made chemicals in your drinking water once the regulations are fully in place in the next five years, according to Quinete, of FIU, and David Andrews, deputy director of investigations and senior scientist at Environmental Working Group.

More than 5,000 public and private water systems across the country and its territories have recorded PFAS contamination, according to the Environmental Working Group. A map updated in February by the nonprofit shows that many of the water systems in the U.S., including in Miami-Dade, Broward and the rest of Florida, have recorded PFAS levels above the new threshold.

The federal regulations, once fully enacted, will help reduce the amount of man-made chemicals and other contaminants that end up in the country’s drinking water, Andrews said. The U.S. rule is now “among the most protective health limits on PFAS in drinking water in the world,” according to the nonprofit.

Miami-Dade County, for example, in its 2023 water quality report, voluntarily chose to test for two types of PFAS — Perfluorooctane sulfonate and Perfluorooctanoic acid — chemicals used to make products resistant to heat, stains, grease and water. The levels the county recorded for these forever chemicals are “significantly above” the new regulation limit, said Andrews, who reviewed the report for the Miami Herald. The county report notes the major source for these chemicals spilling into its system come from ”discharge/runoff from manmade products.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates between about 6% and 10% of the country’s 66,000 public drinking water systems will need to make changes to comply with the regulations.

How to check your tap water for PFAS

Here’s the good news: Some labs can test samples of your tap water to determine the level of PFAS. The bad news: Testing could cost several hundred dollars.

Andrews has a more affordable alternative: Check with your county’s public water system for testing results of the county’s drinking wells. Most public water systems in the country are required to test for contaminants and publicize results. And unlike other contaminants, like lead, PFAS levels “do not typically change” from the testing system location to where the water comes out of your tap, he said.

If there’s a high leve of PFAS in your area, or you want to reduce the risk of contaminants in your drinking water, use home water filters. Experts say these filters can be effective at reducing PFAS and other contaminants.

What type of filter do you need for cleaner tap water?

Finding the right filter can be tricky. You can install one in the sink or buy a portable countertop filter, where water is filtered as it’s poured into a container. Some filters are more effective then others at ridding your tap water of contaminants.

A study conducted by scientists at Duke University and North Carolina State University and published in a 2020 peer-reviewed journal found that while filters help remove contaminants, household filters “are only partially effective” at removing PFAS from drinking water.

“All of the under-sink reverse osmosis and two-stage filters achieved near-complete removal of the PFAS chemicals we were testing for,” said Heather Stapleton, an associate professor of environmental health at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment in a blog post about the study. “In contrast, the effectiveness of activated-carbon filters used in many pitcher, countertop, refrigerator and faucet-mounted styles was inconsistent and unpredictable. The whole-house systems were also widely variable and in some cases actually increased PFAS levels in the water.”

The Environmental Working Group has also tested more than a dozen filters to see which ones work best and has created an online guide to home water filters. You can find the guide online at ewg.org.

The advocacy nonprofit has also created an online tap water database you can use to check what type of contaminants are most commonly found in your area by state or ZIP code.