United States Senator Gary Peters hosted a Senate subcommittee field summit in downtown Grand Rapids Tuesday to gauge how exposure to per-and poly-fluorinated chemicals are impacting Michigan residents.
Commonly referred to as “PFAS,” representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Kent County Health Department were among a number of expert panelists who testified how their organization is handling the chemical’s emergence in drinking water supplies across the state.
While the Environmental Protection Agency has set the PFAS safety standard in drinking water at 70 parts per-trillion, a number of experts testified that number is far too high, that a lower federal benchmark needs to be established, and established soon.
Something Senator Peters says, he agrees with.
“The biggest takeaway is that we have to come up with a federal standard. There has to be a uniform standard put in place, and it has to happen quickly. We also have to work at alternatives. We have got to move past PFAS as a chemical that’s being put in everyday products, and that has to happen very quickly.”
Missing from the panel of experts Tuesday? A representative from the EPA, who declined Senator Peters’ invitation, citing scheduling issues. He called the snub “disappointing.”
“The EPA is a very large agency. I am sure that they had folks qualified to be here. Perhaps this is something that the Trump administration wants to focus on at this time, but we are going to make them focus on this.”
According to numerous health officials, PFAS, nicknamed the “forever chemical” will never leave the body as the building blocks of PFAS do not breakdown over time. If enough is consumed, it can ultimately lead to a laundry list of health problems including multiple types of cancers.
