PFAS Forever Chemicals: Health Risks, Drinking Water Rule, and Settlements

PFAS, the “forever chemicals” found in nearly every American’s blood and in roughly half of U.S. tap water, are a family of thousands of synthetic compounds that resist breaking down and have been linked to cancers, immune problems, and pregnancy complications. They’re now the subject of the first federal drinking water limits ever set for them, a Superfund hazardous-substance designation, and more than $15 billion in settlements with water utilities. Here’s what the science shows, where contamination is worst, what the current rules require, and what you can do about exposure at home.

What PFAS Are and Why They Stick Around

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are synthetic chemicals that have been manufactured since the mid-twentieth century for use in consumer products, industrial processes, and firefighting foams. The defining feature is a carbon-fluorine bond so strong the chemicals resist breakdown in the environment and in the human body, where they can persist for years or decades. That persistence is why they’re called “forever chemicals.”1EPA. Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS

The family contains thousands of compounds. The two most studied, PFOA and PFOS, have been phased out of U.S. production, but replacement PFAS have taken their place in many applications, and the health profiles of those newer compounds are often less well understood.

Health Effects Linked to PFAS Exposure

The EPA, drawing on peer-reviewed research, identifies associations between PFAS exposure and increased risk of kidney, testicular, and prostate cancers; reduced immune function, including weakened response to vaccines; elevated cholesterol; hormone interference; pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure and preeclampsia; and developmental effects in children, including low birth weight and behavioral changes.1EPA. Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has tied PFOA specifically to kidney and testicular cancer, and both PFOA and PFOS to liver enzyme changes and reduced antibody response to vaccines.2ATSDR. PFAS Health Effects

The cancer evidence has firmed up recently. In 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer upgraded PFOA from “possible human carcinogen” to a confirmed “human carcinogen,” and classified PFOS as a “possible human carcinogen” for the first time. National Cancer Institute studies have found elevated kidney cancer risk associated with higher PFOA exposure and increased testicular cancer risk among U.S. Air Force servicemen with elevated PFOS levels. Research has identified suggestive links between PFOS and certain types of postmenopausal breast cancer, and investigations into thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and childhood leukemia tied to prenatal exposure are ongoing.3National Cancer Institute. PFAS

How Widespread the Contamination Is

The scale is enormous. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that at least 45 percent of U.S. tap water contains PFAS. As of August 2024, more than 2,000 sites nationwide had documented detectable PFAS contamination in their drinking water, and the EPA has identified roughly 120,000 U.S. facilities that may have handled or released these chemicals.4EESI. The State of PFAS Forever Chemicals in America A 2025 study in Science estimated that up to 95 million Americans may rely on groundwater sources containing detectable PFAS, with about 13 percent of the contiguous U.S. land area potentially affected.5Environmental Health News. PFAS Map Trump Regulations

Contamination clusters around certain places. Urban land use is the strongest predictor of PFAS in groundwater, followed by proximity to industrial sites, airports, and military bases. Federal testing programs generally exclude private wells and small public water systems serving fewer than 3,300 people, so millions of people are drinking water that has never been tested for these chemicals.5Environmental Health News. PFAS Map Trump Regulations

Exposure is not evenly distributed. A 2023 study in Environmental Science & Technology by Harvard researchers found that communities with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic or Latino residents are more likely to have harmful PFAS levels in their drinking water, because PFAS sources like military bases, landfills, airports, and manufacturing facilities are disproportionately sited near those communities.6Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Communities of Color Disproportionately Exposed to PFAS Pollution in Drinking Water Separate research from UC Berkeley has identified a similar pattern in California’s agricultural regions.7UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Study Highlights Racial and Ethnic Disparities in PFAS Threat

Blood Levels Are Dropping, But Still Universal

The CDC has tracked PFAS in blood samples through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey since 1999. Almost every person tested in the United States has measurable PFAS in their blood. But levels have fallen sharply since production phase-outs began. Blood PFOS declined by more than 85 percent and PFOA by more than 70 percent between 1999 and 2019.8ATSDR. PFAS Facts and Stats Among women of child-bearing age, median PFOS blood levels fell from 24 nanograms per milliliter to 2.3 nanograms per milliliter over roughly the same period.9EPA. Biomonitoring Perfluorochemicals (PFAS)

The decline tracks the voluntary phase-out of PFOS and PFOA production. The chemicals still persist in the environment and continue entering people’s bodies through contaminated water, food, and consumer products.

The Federal Drinking Water Rule

On April 10, 2024, the EPA finalized the first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for PFAS, setting legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels for six compounds. The limits for PFOA and PFOS are 4.0 parts per trillion each, with maximum contaminant level goals of zero. Four other compounds — PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (sold as GenX), and a hazard index for mixtures — received MCLs of 10 parts per trillion each.10EPA. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Under the original rule, public water systems had to complete initial monitoring by 2027 and reduce exceedances by 2029.

The rule’s future is now in flux. In May 2025, the EPA announced it would keep the drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS but intended to rescind the regulations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and the hazard index, stating that those provisions did not comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act rulemaking process.11EPA. Proposed PFAS Rescission Rule The agency also proposed extending the PFOA and PFOS compliance deadline from 2029 to 2031 for water systems that request more time.12SBA Office of Advocacy. EPA Proposes to Extend Deadlines and Revise Definitions for PFAS Drinking Water Rule

In June 2025, Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Debbie Dingell, co-chairs of the Congressional PFAS Task Force, introduced the PFAS National Drinking Water Standard Act of 2025, which would codify all six MCLs into federal law so they could not be rescinded administratively.13NGWA. Bill Introduced That Would Codify PFAS Regulation The American Water Works Association and other industry groups have challenged the 2024 rule in court; the case is pending before the D.C. Circuit, with a decision possible in the second half of 2026.10EPA. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Superfund Designation for PFOA and PFOS

Separately, the EPA designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, the federal Superfund law, effective July 8, 2024.14EPA. Designation of PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances The practical effect is that the EPA can now compel the parties responsible for contamination to pay for cleanup instead of relying on government funds. Entities must report releases of PFOA or PFOS at or above one pound to the National Response Center, and federal property transfers must disclose PFAS contamination.15Federal Register. Designation of PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances The agency’s accompanying enforcement discretion policy says it will focus on parties that “significantly contributed” to releases, not on farms or water utilities that passively received contaminated materials.16EPA. Key EPA Actions to Address PFAS

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups have challenged the designation in Chamber of Commerce v. EPA. The petitioners argue the EPA overstepped its authority and failed to adequately consider costs. The case remains pending.17Waste Dive. PFAS Lawsuit EPA Superfund CERCLA Hazardous Substance

Major Settlements With Water Systems

PFAS litigation has produced some of the largest environmental settlements in U.S. history. The central case is the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam Products Liability Litigation, consolidated as MDL 2873 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina before Judge Richard M. Gergel. Four defendants have reached class action settlements with public water systems nationwide:

All four settlements have received final court approval, and none constitutes an admission of liability. The litigation is in an active claims phase, with Phase Two deadlines for the 3M and DuPont settlements falling in mid-2026 and supplemental fund claims extending through December 31, 2030.22PFAS Water Settlement. PFAS Water Settlement Water systems that miss the deadlines forfeit the right to sue the settling defendants later.23National League of Cities. PFAS Settlement Deadlines Updated The settling parties are an estimated three to seven percent of total MDL defendants; water systems can still pursue claims against non-settling companies.19PFAS Water Settlement. DuPont Frequently Asked Questions

These settlements are limited to public water system claims. They do not resolve lawsuits brought by states, individuals with personal injury claims, or private well owners. In August 2025, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached a separate $875 million settlement with New Jersey covering four industrial facilities, payable over 25 years and including natural resource damages, remediation, legal costs, and conservation of more than 1,400 acres of land.24New Jersey DEP. DuPont Attorneys general from 31 states and Washington, D.C. have filed their own suits against PFAS manufacturers.25NCSL. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

Military Bases and Firefighting Foam

For decades, the Department of Defense used aqueous film-forming foam containing PFAS to extinguish jet-fuel fires during training. The foam leached into soil and groundwater, contaminating drinking water around bases across the country. PFAS has been identified at more than 700 military installations; 723 required formal assessment under CERCLA, and 588 are moving toward remedial investigation as of September 2025.26DOD. Cleanup PFAS

Congress has appropriated nearly $2.5 billion for PFAS and AFFF remediation since 2017, but cleanup timelines have slipped. A Pentagon schedule released in 2025 showed delays of up to nearly a decade at about 140 installations.27New York Times. Military Defense PFAS Forever Chemicals Cleanup Delay Cleanup at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state, originally planned for 2026, is now delayed until 2032; at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the target has slipped to 2034, more than 15 years after contamination was first discovered.28U.S. Senator Patty Murray. Murray Voices Concern Over DOD Delaying PFAS Cleanup Meanwhile, the DOD is replacing AFFF with fluorine-free foam. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act set an original deadline of October 1, 2024, now expected to run to October 1, 2026, with transition costs estimated above $2.1 billion across roughly 1,500 facilities and 6,800 mobile assets.29GAO. GAO-24-107322

Farmland, Biosolids, and Food

A quieter contamination pathway runs through agriculture. About 31 percent of sewage sludge, or biosolids, generated in the United States is spread on agricultural land as fertilizer, and because wastewater treatment plants receive PFAS from industrial and household discharges, the sludge carries those chemicals onto fields.30American Farmland Trust. Federal Policy Recommendations to Address PFAS Contamination on Ag Land The Environmental Working Group has estimated that nearly 70 million acres of U.S. farmland may be contaminated as a result.31EWG. Forever Chemicals Sludge May Taint Nearly 70 Million Farmland Acres

The EPA’s draft risk assessment has found that land-applying sewage sludge containing as little as one part per billion of PFOA or PFOS may exceed acceptable human health risk thresholds, with contamination reaching people through groundwater, milk, beef, eggs, and crops.32EPA. Frequent Questions and Answers Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS Federal biosolids rules currently limit pathogens and metals but do not regulate PFAS, and there are no national requirements to test biosolids for these chemicals or to notify farmers. Contaminated farms have been identified in Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and West Virginia, among others. Some farmers have had to euthanize livestock or halt production entirely after high PFAS levels were found in their products.31EWG. Forever Chemicals Sludge May Taint Nearly 70 Million Farmland Acres Maine has banned the practice outright. The USDA has amended its Dairy Indemnity Payment Program to cover PFAS-related losses and established a PFAS Center of Excellence at the University of Maine.30American Farmland Trust. Federal Policy Recommendations to Address PFAS Contamination on Ag Land

State Bans on PFAS in Everyday Products

States have moved faster than the federal government in several areas. As of late 2024, at least 11 states had enforceable drinking water standards for certain PFAS, and 16 more had adopted guidance or health advisory levels. Sixteen states have legislated the phase-out of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, and Connecticut and Massachusetts became the first to ban PFAS in firefighting gear in 2024.25NCSL. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

A growing number of states are banning intentionally added PFAS in consumer products. Minnesota’s Amara’s Law prohibited PFAS in firefighting foam and food packaging as of January 2024 and extended in 2025 to 11 product categories, including cookware, cosmetics, cleaning products, carpets, dental floss, menstrual products, juvenile products, ski wax, and upholstered furniture.33Minnesota PCA. 2025 PFAS Prohibitions Colorado, Maine, and Vermont enacted similar bans effective January 1, 2026. Connecticut’s ban is scheduled for July 2026, New Hampshire’s for January 2027, New Jersey’s for January 2028, and Illinois’s for January 2032 for several product categories.25NCSL. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

How to Reduce PFAS Exposure at Home

Three technologies are proven to remove PFAS from drinking water: granular activated carbon, ion exchange resins, and reverse osmosis. The EPA has found all three can “greatly reduce PFAS levels” when properly maintained. For home use, point-of-use filters range from about $20 to $1,000, with reverse osmosis systems starting around $150. All require periodic filter or membrane replacement. When shopping, look for NSF/ANSI 53 certification for activated carbon and ion exchange systems and NSF/ANSI 58 certification for reverse osmosis systems.34EPA. Identifying Drinking Water Filters Certified to Reduce PFAS

If you’re on a public water system, check its most recent consumer confidence report or the EPA’s monitoring data to see whether PFAS have been detected. If you draw from a private well, federal testing programs likely don’t cover you, and testing is up to you to arrange. Live near a current or former military base, a landfill, an airport, or a known industrial PFAS source, and the case for testing is stronger. Beyond drinking water, state product bans give you a rough map of where intentionally added PFAS has been most common: cookware, food packaging, cosmetics, carpets, upholstered furniture, dental floss, menstrual products, and children’s products, among others.