Monday, Jan. 22, 2024
Does Fort Worth water contain 500 times the proposed federal limit of toxic ‘forever chemicals?’
On average, Fort Worth’s drinking water does not exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed limits on the amount of “forever chemicals” allowed in drinking water.
PFAS chemicals, found in many consumer products, are known as “forever chemicals” because they build up in the environment. They are linked to serious illnesses like cancer and birth defects.
The EPA’s proposal limits specific PFAS chemicals to 4 parts per trillion. Fort Worth’s 2023 tests found an average of 2.08 parts per trillion of PFOA and 2.05 parts per trillion of PFOS. Some individual water treatment plants reported amounts above the new federal limit.
The city does not meet the EPA’s lifetime health advisory for PFAS, a non-enforceable standard that identifies the amount people can be exposed to without expecting negative health effects. The advisory recommends limiting PFOA to .004 parts per trillion and PFOS to .02 parts per trillion.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- City of Fort Worth Unregulated contaminant testing
- City of Fort Worth PFAS
- Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water Health Advisories (HAs)
- Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS
- NPR EPA moves to limit toxic 'forever chemicals' in drinking water
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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