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There’s something monstrous lurking in the waterways of California, and it isn’t the Sacramento Mothman.
According to a new analysis by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, around half of California’s water is contaminated by PFAS, often called “forever chemicals” for their incredibly long lifespan. The EWG report was compiled using state and federal data, finding that up to 50 percent of surface water samples, and anywhere from 45 to 55 percent of sedimentary samples, are contaminated with PFAS from pesticides.
“These findings suggest pesticides could also be exposing millions of Californians to PFAS through water and soil,” the EWG researchers write. “What’s worse, exposure may persist for generations, since PFAS never fully break down in the environment.”
Though PFAS is a broad category by necessity, the various substances encompassing it have been linked to altered immune and liver functions, heightened risks for cancer, and pregnancy complications, among other health issues. Where agricultural toxicants are concerned, at least 60 percent of the active ingredients approved for use as pesticides can be categorized as PFAS.
“If we’re seeing PFAS pesticides show up this often even in limited surface water and sediment tests, the true scale of this contamination is almost certainly even greater,” said EWG senior VP Bernadette Del Chiaro in a statement. “We need to stop deliberately spraying these toxic chemicals on our crops.”
As Varun Subramaniam, EWG analyst and one of the report’s co-authors told the Guardian, the results are “alarming but not surprising.”
“It’s concerning that we’re finding these levels of PFAS pesticide,” Subramaniam explained, but caveats that “they were applied at really high rates on produce, so it makes sense that they’re in the streams and sediment.”
Last year, another study found that farms across California spewed an average of 2.5 million pounds of PFAS on their crops every year from 2018 to 2023.
Though the Guardian notes those researchers only tested brooks in ten of California’s 58 counties, their tests revealed the highest concentration of PFAS in highly-agricultural areas. (It’s not for nothing that these industrial farms are also a major source of rodenticide pollution, which is turning the organs of wild animals blue.)
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