What Are PFAS? Forever Chemicals in Your Drinking Water Explained

Everybody is talking about forever chemicals right now. PFAS this, PFOs that. I'm sure you've seen a blog, an article, a video even talking about forever chemicals and how scared of it you need to be. The truth is, in my opinion, a lot of the content is designed in a way to scare you. It doesn't actually give you any information on how to take action and protect yourself.

Today in this video, we're going to go over what PFAS are, how they can impact your health, what you can do about it, and other general information so that you're equipped to know what you're dealing with. So, let's answer the question of what are PFAS? PFAS are a large family of man-made compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This can sound really complicated, but let's take a step back and simplify it a little bit. Like I said, PFAS are a family of thousands.

Things like PFOs, PFOAs, PFBS, and the list goes on. These compounds were designed specifically for use in resisting things like heat, water, and oil. The same thing that makes them so good at what they're meant to do is the same reason why they're such a problem in the environment and your health. These compounds were specifically designed in this way so that they would be very durable and not be easily broken apart. These are commonly used in things like firefighting foam, nonstick pans, and more and more in food packaging, stain-free clothing, and a lot of other household goods that you wouldn't expect.

The carbon-fluorine bond is the core chemical link that defines PFAS. This connection's formed when a carbon atom attaches directly to a fluorine atom by sharing electrons. What makes this bond so unique is that fluorine has an incredibly strong pull on electrons. It drags them really close to its nucleus and creates a tight, short, and highly charged connection. This intense atomic attraction is what makes it one of the strongest bonds in all of chemistry.

Understanding the carbon-fluorine bond is extremely important. Now that we've covered what that bond means, the other important part is how long is that bond? How many carbon molecules are chained together? That's the difference between the long-chain PFAS and short-chain PFAS. This is an important distinction to know when it comes to trying to filter your water.

It's also worth noting that the long-chain PFAS, think of your PFOAs, are more well researched than the short-chain PFAS. We might refer to short-chain PFAS as emerging contaminants, and we're continuing to learn more about these as we discover more of them. Medical research has even linked PFAS exposure of certain types to various negative health outcomes. Things like liver issues, high cholesterol, and even cancer in some cases. Now, this doesn't mean that drinking a glass of water is going to kill you or possibly give you some sort of a disease, but it does mean that PFAS are hard to remove, they accumulate in your body over time, and they could potentially lead to negative health outcomes.

Because of the strength of the bond and their resistance towards heat and UV exposure, they do last for many, many years. The carbon-fluorine bond is actually where PFAS coined the name forever chemicals. So now that we understand what PFAS are and why we should care about them, let's talk about how we can actually reduce our exposure to PFAS. One way to reduce exposure is to be conscious of old nonstick cookware. Like we said earlier, PFAS are commonly used for nonstick surfaces.

So it's best that you're careful or you stay away from nonstick cookware to avoid further exposure. Another way that you can reduce exposure to PFAS is kind of a surprising one, but it's actually to avoid non-grease nonstick wrapping on fast food. So the outside paper can in some cases contain PFAS. Doesn't mean you have to stop eating fast food, but just be conscious that PFAS could be in those wrappers. Another one that can be quite surprising is fish advisories.

So, in the same way PFAS can make it into your water for drinking, they can also make it into areas where you fish. Like I said earlier, PFAS also accumulate in the body. That's not just applicable to us as humans, but any other wildlife. An important one is your geography. Where are you located?

Is it in the area that's near an Air Force base or maybe training grounds? If so, you could be at risk for more PFAS exposure. It's always worth checking available resources like our interactive map online to see where your zip code or your location places you and what might be around you. If you guys are interested in checking out the interactive map that we have on our website, we'll put the link in the description below. It's simple to use.

All you have to do is type in your zip code and you'll see your area and if there's any known PFAS exposure points. It'll even tell you the general idea of how much PFAS can be in that location as well as the different types of PFAS. [Editorial note: The recorded regulatory timing and exposure percentage discussion is omitted.] Water filtration is a very simple solution for what could be a big problem. The odds are stacked in your favor with a water filtration system. With so many water filtration systems on the market, where do you even start?

Well, we're going to try to simplify this and make that decision as easy as it can be. We're going to talk about a couple of different types of systems you'll see for PFAS and what we think is best given the pros and cons of each. Let's start with ion exchange. You may have heard ion exchange in the context of something like a water softener, a tannin removal system, or even a nitrate system. But, ion exchange can actually be used for PFAS reduction, too.

The only problem with ion exchange is that it's very delicate. It gets exhausted quickly. Other ions can compete for the spot on the resin. This means that your reduction could be reduced over time very quickly. Another unfortunate reality with ion exchange systems is you're not going to find very many on the market.

When it comes to something like an RO system, you can find plenty of different options. But, ion exchange can be one of those very limited types of systems that you likely won't find. And in a lot of cases, ion exchange systems are actually reserved more for municipalities. On the bright side, ion exchange systems are very efficient at removing select PFAS. Let's move on to the second type of system that you'll look at for PFAS reduction.

This is going to be your carbon media system. Think of your GAC system, or even a carbon block in some cases. Another good thing about carbon is that it's going to last a little bit longer than something like ion exchange. But, the drawbacks are that carbon's only really great for long-chain PFAS. That means that the short-chain PFAS might still make it through, and their reduction rates are going to vary drastically depending on what's in your water.

But, eventually you will need to replace the media. And a couple of other drawbacks would include that you have to be conscious of the contact time between the water and the media, how much carbon you actually have, and what type of PFAS, like I noted earlier. Factoring in these considerations might actually be something that points you towards a third option, which is going to be a reverse osmosis system. RO systems are extremely robust, extremely efficient at removing PFAS of all types, your short and long-chain PFAS. So, you don't really have to consider which types of PFAS are in your water, or how much volume of media is there, how much contact time, you can pretty much put an RO system in place and bank on the idea that it's going to remove most, if not all, of the PFAS in your water.

RO is also great because there's so many options on the market. You have different types of systems you can choose from, whether it's a whole house system, a countertop system, or an under-sink system. So, you know that you can easily and quickly get an RO in place. You don't have to worry about which PFAS are in your water or any of the complex considerations that you might with other systems, and it's going to work. This makes RO extremely appealing for a lot of people because of the simplicity of it all.

Now that we've talked about the different types of systems, this leads me to the last point. Which system is best for PFAS? In my opinion, and I would say in a general sense, reverse osmosis is going to be the best option you can go with. It's going to be the most simple, the most widely available on the market, probably the most efficient, and the least hassle. You know that when you get an RO system, you're going to be protected, not now from the PFAS that we already know, but also future-proofing for any other PFAS or compounds that we find in the future.

And to round this off, let's quickly recap and do a little comparison. RO is going to be efficient, small, widely available, and protect you from all types of PFAS. Ion exchange is going to be efficient with certain types of PFAS, but there's cost consideration as well as sourcing. Carbon is going to be efficient with long-chain PFAS, but not short-chain PFAS. It's also widely available on the market, but you have to consider other factors like flow rate, contact time, volume of media, and so on.

By now, hopefully we've equipped you with everything you need to make an informed decision. That way you can best protect yourself from PFAS. We've covered what PFAS are, how they got their name, a little bit of the chemistry, the types of PFAS, how they find their way to your water, and how to protect yourself day-to-day. If you ever have any other questions or need help of any type, feel free to leave us a comment, give us a call, or visit us at crystalquest.com. We're always here and happy to help in any way that we can.