What is PFAS? How do I filter PFAS from tap water?

23 aprile 2024 Magnus Jern

What is the best the way to filter PFAS from tap water?

Concerns about PFAS including PFOS and PFOA in tap water is growing due to the substances being found in tap water all over Europe and the US. This is of major concerns as it's now categorised as a cancergenic by the EU and the US EPA.

What are PFAS chemicals?

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) incl PFOA and PFOS are very stable manmade chemicals that have properties that allow them to repel both water and oil.

PFAS chemicals are used in a wide variety of consumer products, including carpets, clothing, non-stick pans, paints, polishes, waxes, cleaning products, and food packaging. Firefighters and the military use them in fire-suppressing foam.

Why are PFAS dangerous?

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the most well-studied PFAS, was first classified in 2014 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a possible human carcinogen, and in 2023, upgraded PFOA to a human carcinogen

Although more research is needed, some studies have shown that long chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS may:

cause developmental effects in infants
lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant
increase a woman’s blood pressure during pregnancy
lower infant birth weights
interfere with the body’s natural hormones
increase cholesterol levels
affect the immune system
increase the risk of cancer

One reason that long chain PFAS substances could potentially cause so much damage is that they are stuck on our bodies for years.

EPA in 2024 set the enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels at 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, individually. That's 4 nanograms/liter.

The EU Drinking Water Directive, which took effect on 12 January 2021, includes a limit of 0.5 µg/l for all PFAS and 0.1 µg/l. That's 40x higher than the US limit which is a bit alarming.

Confusing?

Yes, the science community is divided about what should be considered a safe limit. One of the challenges with legal limits is that it could double the the cost of drinking water in some places to reach the lower limits.

Where have PFAS been found in the US?

About 70 million people are exposed to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in US drinking water, new testing from the Environmental Protection Agency has found.

But the testing completed to date has only checked about one-third of the nation’s public water systems, meaning the agency is on pace to find over 200 million people are exposed, or at least 60% of the US population.

Where has PFAS been found in Europe?

Le Monde has put together a map of all PFAS contaminated sites in Europe. It shows how serious the issue as some local areas are so badly contaminated that people cannot even eat locally grown vegetables. Read more by the Guardian including the PFAS Europe map in English.

One of the worst incidents reported has been in Italy where hundreds of thousands of people drank PFAS contaminated water for a long period of time. It's suspected to have caused reduction in fertility. More recently PFAS have also been found in Spain, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

How does PFAS substances end up in our tap water?

For water supplies with high levels of PFAS it’s usually due to a manufacturing plant, disposal or site using PFAS but it could also be a fire station or military reserve. Even if they stopped using the PFAS substances years ago they may remain in the tap water for tens of years.

One of the most recent examples of this is the Veneto region in Italy where it was found that hundreds of thousands of people had been exposed to high levels of PFAS from old factories.

In reality almost all water has some level of PFAS today but not at a level considered harmful for humans.

What about bottled water?

Bottled water may also contain PFAS, since it’s much less regulated than tap water and isn’t required to be tested for PFAS.

How do I know if there’s PFAS in my tap water?

This is a bit tricky as most standard water quality tests don’t include PFAS substances. This is why it took so long to detect it in places such as Veneto, Italy and Horsam Pennsylvania. The local water companies generally don't measure PFAS in the tap water.

What is PFAS and how can I filter PFAS from the tap water?

Thankfully filtering PFAS is easy with the right kind of filter.

Activated carbon filtration is the most studied treatment to filter PFOS, PFOA and other PFAS. According to EPA “Activated Carbon can be more than 99 percent effective for a period of time, depending on the type of carbon used, the depth of the bed of carbon, flow rate of the water, the specific PFAS you need to remove, temperature, and the degree and type of organic matter as well as other contaminants, or constituents, in the water.” In particular PFOS and PFOA which are the most commonly found PFAS.

An affordable high quality faucet water filter using activated carbon such as EcoPro or EcoPro Compact by TAPP Water will reduce PFAS by 95% or more. The best part is that it will cost you as little as €60/$60 per year.

Our water filter jug PitcherPro will also reduce PFAS by more than 95%.

It’s also possible to filter PFAS using reverse osmosis and ion exchange filters.

Summary

PFAS in drinking water poses a serious concern in places where the local water supply has been contaminated
We know there are health risks with PFAS so better to be safe than sorry if there is a risk of PFAS where you live
Bottled water is not necessarily safe from PFAS
If you’re concerned about PFAS in your tap water then an affordable activated carbon faucet filter such as EcoPro or Flo Faucet Filter (US) will filter PFAS to keep you and your family safe