Forever Chemicals: What You Need to Know About PFAS in Your Water

Understanding the Risks, Realities, and How to Protect Your Family from These Persistent Pollutants

René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH
4 min readSep 4, 2024

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Two young children, wearing sun hats, stand by an outdoor water pump in a grassy area on a sunny day. One child is operating the pump handle while the other watches. The scene is peaceful, surrounded by greenery and a wooden fence in the background.

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency set strict new limits on “forever chemicals” found in drinking water. The standards will go into place in 2029, with contaminated water supplies to undergo a lot of testing and remediation between now and then.

Just this past week, we received a notification from our school district that our daughter’s school tested high for these chemicals. The letter said the levels were higher than the 2029 standards, and remediation was underway. Until the remediation is done, and the tests show lower levels of the chemicals, bottled water will be available for the children.

Interestingly, the letter encouraged us to fill her water bottle at home. It also said bottled water was available at the school for her to use for drinking. We’re on the same water supply… So it’s safe for us to fill her water here, but not drink there…

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René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH

DrPH in Epidemiology. Public Health Instructor. Father. Husband. "All around great guy." https://linktr.ee/rene.najera