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4.19.24
Danielle Underferth
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has imposed the first-ever regulations limiting chemicals known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, in drinking water.
Carsten Prasse
Carsten Prasse is an assistant professor of environmental health and engineering whose research focuses on the occurrence and fate of organic contaminants in the urban water cycle and their impact on environmental and human health.
Long-term, low-dose exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, can hinder the immune system, interfere with hormones, and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. It can also cause low birth weight and high cholesterol. High doses of PFAS increase the risk of kidney cancer, liver damage, testicular cancer, and thyroid disease. On April 10, the EPA passed historic regulations on six PFAS compounds in drinking water based on their potential to cause kidney and liver cancer.
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What do we need to know?
An estimated 98% of the U.S. population has detectable concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, in their blood.
While diet and dust are the primary routes of exposure, contaminated drinking water is a common way people ingest PFAS. A recent study estimated that 45% of drinking water samples contain at least one PFAS. These chemicals, which comprise more than 10,000 individual compounds, enter drinking water sources through their use in firefighting foams on fire training/fire response sites, industrial sites, and landfills, as well as wastewater treatment plants and associated byproducts such as biosolids.
Unfortunately, conventional drinking water treatment approaches cannot remove these compounds. The new regulation is an important step because it will require drinking water treatment plants that have PFAS in their source water to upgrade their technology to remove them. This includes the use of activated carbon, anion exchange resins, and high-pressure membranes.
What can consumers do to limit their exposure to these chemicals now?
PFAS are extremely persistent in the environment. As a result, even as regulations roll back production and use of PFAS in a variety of products and drinking water systems come into compliance with new rules, PFAS exposure will continue to be a problem. In the meantime, municipal residents can reach out to their local utility to ask whether PFAS have been tested for and detected in the water system. If the utility hasn’t tested, people can test their tap water at home. Water filtration at home is an option if people identify PFAS in their drinking water. There are a number of water filters available specifically designed for PFAS removal. This could be a meaningful and temporary solution while utilities come into compliance with the new rules over the next five years and beyond. For those on a private well, these regulations do not apply to them. The EPA has indicated, however, that private well owners will have access to funds to support testing and treatment of their wells.
I want to emphasize that bottled water does not necessarily represent a better alternative. PFAS have been detected in bottled water. In addition, plastic bottles can leach other chemicals that are used in the manufacturing process, and plastic waste is a major environmental problem.
What happens next?
By 2027, water systems will have to demonstrate initial monitoring for PFAS in their water systems at a rate depending on the system size and source water type (e.g. groundwater versus surface water). After this point, a system that exceeds the limit has until 2029 to come into compliance with the new rules. While this may seem like a lot of time, it’s not. PFAS monitoring requires new sampling procedures and compliance with the rule will require large updates to treatment plants. This is not trivial considering that PFAS contamination is widespread. At the same time, we know how to test for these PFAS and we know how to treat them. What we don’t know—and what poses perhaps the biggest challenge to compliance with the new rules—is exactly how much this will cost and who will pay for it. Testing and treatment for PFAS are expensive, and many industry experts feel that funds made available from the EPA are inadequate to the costs that utilities will endure. The issue of cost will be particularly important and potentially challenging for small water systems.
See the full article here .
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About the The Johns Hopkins University HUB
We’ve been doing some thinking — quite a bit, actually — about all the things that go on at Johns Hopkins. Discovering the glue that holds the universe together, for example. Or unraveling the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease. Or studying butterflies in flight to fine-tune the construction of aerial surveillance robots. Heady stuff, and a lot of it.
In fact, Johns Hopkins does so much, in so many places, that it’s hard to wrap your brain around it all. It’s too big, too disparate, too far-flung.
We created the Hub to be the news center for all this diverse, decentralized activity, a place where you can see what’s new, what’s important, what Johns Hopkins is up to that’s worth sharing. It’s where smart people (like you) can learn about all the smart stuff going on here.
At the Hub , you might read about cutting-edge cancer research or deep-trench diving vehicles or bionic arms. About the psychology of hoarders or the delicate work of restoring ancient manuscripts or the mad motor-skills brilliance of a guy who can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under eight seconds.
There’s no telling what you’ll find here because there’s no way of knowing what Johns Hopkins will do next. But when it happens, this is where you’ll find it.
Johns Hopkins University opened in 1876, with the inauguration of its first president, Daniel Coit Gilman. “What are we aiming at?” Gilman asked in his installation address. “The encouragement of research … and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and the society where they dwell.”
The mission laid out by Gilman remains the university’s mission today, summed up in a simple but powerful restatement of Gilman’s own words: “Knowledge for the world.”
What Gilman created was a research university, dedicated to advancing both students’ knowledge and the state of human knowledge through research and scholarship. Gilman believed that teaching and research are interdependent, that success in one depends on success in the other. A modern university, he believed, must do both well. The realization of Gilman’s philosophy at Johns Hopkins, and at other institutions that later attracted Johns Hopkins-trained scholars, revolutionized higher education in America, leading to the research university system as it exists today.
The Johns Hopkins University is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, the university was named for its first benefactor, the American entrepreneur and philanthropist Johns Hopkins. His $7 million bequest (approximately $147.5 million in today’s currency)—of which half financed the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Hospital—was the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the United States up to that time. Daniel Coit Gilman, who was inaugurated as the institution’s first president on February 22, 1876, led the university to revolutionize higher education in the U.S. by integrating teaching and research. Adopting the concept of a graduate school from Germany’s historic Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE), Johns Hopkins University is considered the first research university in the United States. Over the course of several decades, the university has led all U.S. universities in annual research and development expenditures. The university has graduate campuses in Italy, China, and Washington, D.C., in addition to its main campus in Baltimore.
Johns Hopkins is organized into 10 divisions on campuses in Maryland and Washington, D.C., with international centers in Italy and China. The two undergraduate divisions, the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering, are located on the Homewood campus in Baltimore’s Charles Village neighborhood. The medical school, nursing school, and Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center are located on the Medical Institutions campus in East Baltimore. The university also consists of the Peabody Institute, Applied Physics Laboratory, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, School of Education, Carey Business School, and various other facilities.
Johns Hopkins was a founding member of the American Association of Universities. Nobel laureates and Fields Medalists have been affiliated with Johns Hopkins. Founded in 1883, the Blue Jays men’s lacrosse team has captured national titles.
Research
The opportunity to participate in important research is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Hopkins’ undergraduate education. About 80 percent of undergraduates perform independent research, often alongside top researchers. Johns Hopkins has members of the Institute of Medicine, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, The National Academy of Engineering, and The National Academy of Sciences. Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university as alumni, faculty members or researchers.
The Johns Hopkins University is among the most cited institutions in the world ranking No. 3 globally [after Harvard University and The MPG Society (DE)] in the number of total citations published in Thomson Reuters-indexed journals over 22 fields in America.
Johns Hopkins receives research grants from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as a leading recipient of NASA research and development funding. Totals include grants and expenditures of JHU’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
The Johns Hopkins University also offers the “Center for Talented Youth” program—a nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying and developing the talents of the most promising K-12 grade students worldwide. As part of the Johns Hopkins University, the “Center for Talented Youth” or CTY helps fulfill the university’s mission of preparing students to make significant future contributions to the world. The Johns Hopkins Digital Media Center (DMC) is a multimedia lab space as well as an equipment, technology and knowledge resource for students interested in exploring creative uses of emerging media and use of technology.
In 2013, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships program was established by a $250 million gift from Michael Bloomberg. This program enables the university to recruit fifty researchers from around the world to joint appointments throughout the nine divisions and research centers. For The American Academy of Arts and Sciences each professor must be a leader in interdisciplinary research and be active in undergraduate education. Directed by Vice Provost for Research, there are Bloomberg Distinguished Professors at the university, including Nobel Laureates, fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and members of the National Academies.
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