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Areas At-Risk of PFAS Contamination
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It’s no secret that forever chemicals can be found all over the United States. But, parts of the U.S. are much more likely to be contaminated with PFAS than others. If you live in a highly-affected area, it is urgent for you to stay vigilant about your tap water consumption. It may be a good idea to purchase a PFAS water filter or find another water source for drinking, cooking, or brushing your teeth.
To view an overview of all the areas contaminated with PFAS in the U.S., go to the Environmental Working Group’s interactive PFAS contamination map.
Industrial sites
Chemical plants and other industrial sites have been responsible for widespread PFAS pollution in the United States. Back in the late 1990s, a farmer and an environmental defense attorney teamed up and uncovered an “extraordinarily high concentration of PFOA” in a landfill creek near a Dupont chemical plant in West Virginia. This event is what informed the public about PFAS’ dangerous effects, and it would later spark thousands of lawsuits, dozens of research papers, and even its own movie Dark Waters in 2019.
However, the pollution occuring near these chemical plants appears to be persisting. In 2017, researchers found at least 11 new types of PFAS chemicals in a North Carolina river nearby a Chemours chemical plant. Then in 2021, the single largest source of CF4 (a common PFAS compound) emissions in the U.S. came from a 3M chemical plant in Illinois.
Anyone residing near a chemical plant, especially one that produces PFAS products, has a very high risk of being exposed to PFAS and should avoid consuming any tap water while at home, even at high temperatures.
Military bases
In 2023, the detection of PFAS chemicals was confirmed at 455 military sites, and another 255 bases were suspected to possibly be contaminated. This is because PFAS are used to make aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), a fire fighting foam regularly used within military bases for training purposes and for putting out emergency blazes. When used, AFFF can seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater, it or can end up in the sewers because of surface runoff.
Because AFFF fire fighting foam is so prevalent in these areas, anyone living on or nearby a military base has a high risk of PFAS exposure and should take caution.
Airports
Airports are also a large source of PFAS pollution. Currently, over 500 major airports are required by federal law to use AFFF to test safety protocol. Though these safety tests are essential to prevent the occurrence of a fire while an aircraft is mid-flight, airports have also caused large amounts of AFFF to contaminate nearby groundwater and pollute our environment. Because of this, anyone living near a commercial airport is likely to have an increased risk of PFAS exposure.
Join the PFAS lawsuit
If you or a close family member developed kidney or testicular cancer after being exposed to PFAS forever chemicals in water, fire fighting foam, or a consumer good within the last 20 years, there’s still time to join in on the recent $10.3 billion 3M PFAS settlement.
Ready to file a claim ?
See if you qualify for the PFAS lawsuit.
Referenced Articles
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2024, January 18). How can I be exposed? Retrieved from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/exposure.html
- Environmental Working Group. (2024, May 21). PFAS contamination in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/
View more sources
- Rich, N. (2016, January 6). The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html
- Kirkwood-Donelson, K. et al. (2023, October 25). Uncovering per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with nontargeted ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry analyses. In Science Advances (vol 9, issue 43). Retrieved from https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj7048
- McKenna, Phil. (2022, December 29). A 3M Plant in Illinois Was The Country’s Worst Emitter of a Climate-Killing ‘Immortal’ Chemical in 2021. Retrieved from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29122022/3m-cordova-illinois-pfas-cf4-pollution/
- Environmental Working Group. (2023, August 15). Updated map: Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ confirmed to contaminate 455 military sites. Retrieved from https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/08/updated-map-toxic-forever-chemicals-confirmed-contaminate-455
- Aircraft rescue and firefighting: Index determination., 14 C.F.R. § 139.315 (2024). Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-G/part-139/subpart-D/section-139.315
- Aircraft rescue and firefighting: Equipment and agents., 14 C.F.R. § 139.317 (2024). Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-G/part-139/subpart-D/section-139.317
About the PFAS Lawsuit
Products at-risk
- Contaminated tap water
- AFFF fire fighting foam
- Teflon non-stick cookware
- Grease-proof food packaging
- Cleaning products
- Stain-resistant fabrics
- Microwavable popcorn bags
- Paints and sealants
- Some shampoo brands
- Some cosmetic goods
- …and more.
Who's being sued?
3M, DuPont, the Chemours Company, Corteva, and other defendants
Which illnesses are eligible ?
- Kidney Cancer
- Testicular Cancer
- Thyroid disease
