PFAS, or per/polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of man-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, PFAS, GenX and more.
They're used in a variety of industries to make products like nonstick Teflon, waterproof compounds and stain repellents.
How Are PFAs in Your Tap Water Regulated?
The Safe Water Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate contaminants in drinking water.
They actively enforce limits on over 90 contaminants, but PFAS are not one of them. The EPA’s “non-enforceable” recommended limit is 70 parts per trillion (ppt).
Since 1998, the EPA has known about the shocking dangers of PFAS, but they’ve failed to take serious action.
As of July 2019, PFAS were in the public water supplies of 19 million people in the United States.
The Scandalous History of PFAs
In 1946, the chemical company DuPont introduced nonstick cookware coated with PFAS and patented it as Teflon.
Fast forward to 2001, and Teflon was found in the drinking water of tens of thousands of residents in West Virginia. A class-action lawsuit linked PFA-contaminated water to cancer and other diseases.
In response, U.S. manufacturers phased out old PFAS, like PFOA and PFOS, and reformulated them, but these new varieties may have even worse health risks.
However, PFAS continue to be widely used in manufacturing to this day.
How Do PFAs Get Into Your Tap Water?
PFAS can be in packaged food, polishes, paints, chrome plating, electronics, cleaning products, pizza boxes, waxes, nonstick products, and plastic water bottles.
When stored for a long period of time and exposed to heat, PFAS can easily leech from plastic bottles and into your water.
One of the biggest sources of PFAS in groundwater is the fire-fighting foams used for training exercises at military bases, airports and firefighting academies.
In addition, PFAS make their way through the ecosystem and end up in water treatment plants, rivers, lakes and even living organisms, including you!
Health Effects of PFA Exposure
PFAS can cause serious health problems when ingested, including:
- Weight gain
- Low birth weight
- Weakened immunity
- Endocrine disruption and hormone imbalances
- Testicular, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer
Many of these studies are based on the older generation of PFAS, like PFOA and PFOS.
However, research shows that the new generation of PFAS, like GenX, may be even worse for your health.
In addition, the latest test results published by the National Toxicology Program demonstrated that new-gen PFAS can damage the endocrine and reproductive systems similar to old PFAS.
Altogether, no matter which way you slice it, the entire class of PFAS is hazardous.
How to Remove PFAs from Your Tap Water
The chemical properties of PFAS make them very difficult to remove.
Fortunately, several at-home water treatment technologies are capable of removing them.
In short, the most effective treatment methods for PFAS are:
- Activated carbon filtration
- Ion exchange resins
- Reverse osmosis (RO)
Let’s take a closer look at these filters in action…
1. Activated Carbon Filtration
Activated carbon is a highly porous material that traps PFAS as the water flows through, and it can help remove low concentrations of some PFAS.
Carbon filters are used mainly to improve the smell and taste of water, but they’re also one of the most widely studied types of treatment for PFAS.
However, activated carbon comes with a couple downsides…
For starters, activated carbon works well with long-chain PFAS, like PFOA and PFOS, but it isn’t as effective with short-chain PFAS, like PFBS and PFBA.
Secondly, carbon filters can quickly lose their effectiveness when processing high volumes of contaminated water.
However, even top-of-the-line carbon filters are unlikely to remove high concentrations of PFAS.
Ion exchange removes PFAS with positively-charged resin beads. The positively-charged beads act like tiny magnets that attract and remove the negatively-charged PFAS.
On its own, ion exchange is typically effective for a limited period of time depending on the type of resin beads, flow rate, and the type of PFAS being removed.
Although it can work in the short run, it’s not the best way to remove PFAS in a consistent, dependable way—for that you’re going to need to pull out the big guns…
3. Reverse Osmosis Systems
Reverse osmosis (RO) works by forcing pressurized water through a semipermeable membrane with very fine pores.
On its own, reverse osmosis can be highly effective at removing PFAS, but there’s a lot more to RO systems than meets the eye...
Furthermore, RO systems combine several stages of filtration to remove 99.9% of PFAS and other contaminants.
Depending on the model, RO systems can include:
- Sediment filter to trap large particles of dirt and debris
- Second sediment filter with smaller pores to filter out tiny particles
- Activated carbon filter to trap chemicals like chlorine and some PFAS
- Ion exchange resins to remove “hard” minerals and some PFAS
- Reverse osmosis membrane to trap dangerous contaminants like arsenic, lead and PFAS
- Polishing filter to remove any remaining impurities
Cloud Water Filters use all of the above to kick PFAS to the curb.
As well as that, they even add healthy minerals back into the water through a process called remineralization. Also, Cloud’s built-in software tracks usage and automatically ships replacement filters right to your door.
PFAS...your days are numbered!
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