Chemicals can be removed forever in drinking water. Will it happen?

New study It discovers that the techniques installed to remove the chemicals forever from the drinking water also perform the double service by removing other harmful substances-including some of the materials that have been linked to certain types of cancer.

the TicketIt was published on Thursday in the ACS ES & T Water magazine, and comes in the case of Trump administration repair A rule that imposes that water systems take measures to clean chemicals forever in drinking water.

Polorocillus (PFAS), which is colloquially referred to as chemicals forever, is a category of thousands of chemicals that are not decomposing in the environment and are associated with a wide range of disturbing health results, including various cancer, hormonal disorders, and development delay. Because they do not degrade, they are uniquely spread: a 2023 studies It is an American geological survey as much that 45 percent of tap water in the United States can contain at least one chemical PFA.

Last year, the Biden administration ended a base establishment The first legal limits ever for PFAS in drinking water, and set strict borders for six types of PFAs and it is imposed that the water facilities needed to clean drinking water under these borders by 2029. But in May, the Environmental Protection Agency He said The regulations will be reviewed on four of the six chemicals in the original base and extend the deadline for two years. The changes come after a widespread protest of water facilities, from He says The costs of installing PFAs filtering systems will far exceed what the agency was originally estimated.

“Based on the historical procedures for the treatment of PFAs during the first Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency addresses PFAS from all our program offices, promoting research and testing, and stopping PFAs from entering drinking water systems, pollutants accountability, and more,” said Brigitte Hershe, the Pressary Environmental Protection Agency, in a statement. “This is just a small part of the work of the agency on PFAS during the second term of President Trump to ensure that the Americans have the cleanest air, land and water.”

Hirsch also stressed that with the review of the Environmental Protection Agency for the four relevant chemicals concerned, “the result can be tougher requirements.”

Experts say that PFAS cleaning costs can have other benefits that go beyond just obtaining chemicals forever from American water supply. The authors of the new study – all employees of the ecosystem (EWG), a non -profit organization that researchs chemical safety – states that technology that gets rid of PFAs can also liquidate a number of other harmful substances, including some created as secondary products for the water treatment itself.

The study is looking into three types of water filtering techniques that have been proven to remove PFAS. “These techniques” are really widespread, they were really used for a long time, and they are well documented to remove a large number of pollutants, “says Sydney Evans, EWG chief analyst and co -author of the report.

Most routine water cleansing operations in the United States require the addition of a chemical – chlorine usually – to water. Although this process removes harmful pathogens, they cannot get rid of PFAs or other types of pollutants, including heavy metals and elements such as arsenic.