California is launching a plan this month to require testing of drinking water wells, landfill facilities, and airport sites for “forever chemicals” in an attempt to map out exposure to the contaminants.
Based on surveys, an estimated 3.5 million Californians use drinking water supplies that have detected these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, above federal health advisory levels. But the extent of exposure, and how the contaminants are getting into drinking water supplies, isn’t known.
“This first step in the monitoring will start to fill in some of the blanks,” Darrin Polhemus, deputy director for drinking water programs for ...