[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: "Iowa Officials Launch PFAS Working Group To Address Risks To Drinking Water"

[Lenny Siegel]

Iowa Officials Launch PFAS Working Group To Address Risks To Drinking Water 

By KATE PAYNE
Iowa Public Radio
July 19, 2019 

Local, state and federal officials have formed a working group to address Iowa’s PFAS contamination and any impacts to drinking water. Iowa is one of a number of states to grapple with the chemicals used at military bases and manufacturing sites.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAShave been linked to some cancers, hormonal imbalances and pregnancy complications, and may even reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

PFAS refers to a class of thousands of individual compounds which are used in a slate of household products from dental floss to cooking pans to shoes, pose a particular threat when they wind up in drinking water. The U.S. military has found high levels of PFAS contamination in the surface water and groundwater at the Air National Guard bases in Sioux City and Des Moines, where the chemicals were used in special firefighting foams.

Despite the contamination, the chemicals haven’t been found in Iowa tap water. But because the substances aren’t formally regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, local governments in Iowa don’t have to screen for PFAS, which experts say raises questions about the full extent of potential exposure.

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For the entire story, see
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/iowa-officials-launch-pfas-working-group-address-risks-drinking-water

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org