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Date: 6/28/2021
WESTERN MASS. – Several communities in the Western Massachusetts area are being encouraged to take advantage of a free testing program that detects specific chemicals in well water systems.
State Sen. John Velis said the program tests for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS “are a group of man-man chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, Genx and many other chemicals.” Such chemicals have been manufactured and used both across the world, including in the U.S., since the 1940s. The EPA website states that specific PFAS chemicals have been phased out as “eight major chemical manufacturers agreed to eliminate the use of PFOA and PFOA-related chemicals in their products and as emissions from their facilities.”
While PFAS are no longer produced in the U.S., they can still be found in food packaging; food grown in contaminated soil; commercial household products such as non-stick products, waxes, paints, cleaning products and fire-fighting foams; in some production industries; drinking water that is “typically localized and associated with a specific facility”; and in living organisms such as fish, animals and people where the chemicals “have the ability to build up and persist over time.”
The EPA website states that PFAS “are very persistent in the environment and in the human body- meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects.”
Velis agreed with this sentiment and said many of the long-term effects of chemicals “are only beginning to become clear.” He said, “Furthermore, this particular class of chemicals has been labeled as ‘emergent contaminant,’ meaning that the scientific community is unsure about exactly where and how much it is present in our environment.”
Velis said the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Drinking Water Program Private Wells PFAS Sampling Program is being offered in communities where 60 percent or more of households have homes that operate on private well water. He said that nearly all public water supplies across the state were regularly tested for PFAS, this was not the case for those who use private wells.
While virtually all public water supplies are routinely tested throughout Massachusetts, it is a very different story for households who operate on private wells,” he said. “Many have never been tested because of the associated cost and hassle. As such, the prevalence of PFAS in these areas is almost completely unknown.”
Most of the communities that qualify for PFAS testing, he said, “are very small and rural.” While more than 84 communities across the state qualify for the program, towns in the Second Hampden and Hampshire State Senate district that are eligible for the program include Tolland, Granville and Montgomery. Other Western Massachusetts communities where residents are eligible for the free program include Granby, Hampden and Westhampton. Velis said the free testing program was “extremely easy.” He said, “All that has to be done is follow the instructions in the kit and mail back a sample of their home’s water to the MassDEP.” The testing kits, he said, could be requested online at dwp-pfas.madwpdep.org or by calling 545-PFAS (7327).
Velis said the kits were “first come first serve” and the owner of the home must be the one to sign up for the testing. He emphasized how important it was to sign up for the testing kit as “a maximum of 40 households per community can receive testing kits.” Preference for those receiving kits, Velis said, was given to “households that are near likely PFAS contamination sites such as firehouses, former industrial sites and transfer stations/dumps.”