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New Research Traces PFAS Route From a Rural Maine School to Residential Drinking Water

New Research Traces PFAS Route From a Rural Maine School to Residential Drinking Water

New Research Traces PFAS Route From a Rural Maine School to Residential Drinking Water
Wider implications as MDI Bio Lab expands testing and partnerships around “forever chemicals”
For immediate release
Bar Harbor, Maine _ Peer-reviewed research by MDI Bio Lab’s Community Environmental Health Laboratory published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives draws attention to an unexpected source for the spread of PFAS “forever chemicals” to rural water supplies – wastewater from public schools.
“The findings show that private well water is a misnomer,” says Jane Disney, Ph.D., who heads the research group. “Our analyses show an example of a school where PFAS in wastewater impacts an entire neighborhood.”
Disney explains that groundwater reserves that feed individual wells are often shared between rural neighbors, including schools and firehouses. Schools historically have used PFAS-laden products, from floor waxes to toilet paper, which can be introduced to the environment via their wastewater systems.
Maine schools have ensured safe water supplies for students and staff, but the research demonstrates that more outreach, investigation and protective action may be needed in communities around 56 Maine schools where state data show PFAS levels above the EPA’s limits for various types of PFAS.
Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a growing public health concern, with documented effects on metabolic hormones, cholesterol levels, testicular cancer, hypertension during pregnancy and other physiological effects.
MDI Bio Lab’s Community Health Laboratory team continues to expand its PFAS research, with new projects and partnerships. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in November added new funds for joint efforts to increase public awareness and testing for PFAS in rural New England’s residential water supplies.
The Maine Sea Grant program recently approved a grant for research on how salt marsh grasses may mitigate PFAS effects on coastal ecosystems. And the Davis Family Foundation is supporting a partnership with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to measure and track PFAS in ocean water, sediment, and shellfish – including in Mount Desert Island’s Somes Sound.
“We’re looking at the entire coastal watershed,” Disney says. “The more we learn about how these substances get from point A to point B, the better we can protect our own health and the environment.”