Forever chemicals are entering the Great Lakes mainly through rainfall, new research has found.
The chemicals, called Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have become prominent in the environment. They are used in many everyday items such as food packaging and toilet paper, but they break down very slowly, meaning they remain in the environment for a very long period of time, or as the name suggests, forever.
PFAS also move through the water cycle, meaning they fall down as rain, eventually making it into our drinking water. Now, a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology by multi-institutional researchers has found out more about how PFAS enter each of the Great Lakes, which are highly important to their surrounding communities.
Although the amounts of PFAS found in each lake were similar, the researchers found that they were getting rid of the chemicals at different rates. Rain also seemed to be the most prominent way they entered the water.
The main issue around these forever chemicals is the health effects they can lead to over time. They can cause increased blood pressure, increased blood cholesterol, reproductive issues and even certain cancers, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Previous studies have found the presence of forever chemicals in the Great Lakes, but the study authors wanted to know more about where exactly they came from.
To reach their findings, researchers studied 60 air samples and 207 precipitation samples between 2021 and 2022. These were all from regions surrounding the Great Lakes. They also analyzed 87 water samples from the five Great Lakes and looked at all of them for 41 types of forever chemicals.
In the rain samples, they found that the amount of PFAS stayed similar around all five lakes which indicates that population density does not appear to affect these concentrations. Air samples, however, did indicate this. They found that Cleveland (a highly populated area) had the highest level of forever chemicals in the air, while the sparsely populated Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan had very low concentrations.
Overall, precipitation appeared to be the main way that PFAS entered the lakes. Researchers believe they are eliminated mainly through sedimentation in the lake bed.
Lake Ontario had the highest amount of PFAS in the water. Lake Michigan had the second highest, followed by Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Superior.
All five of these lakes provide a vital freshwater source for regions around the U.S. and Canada. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that their area is populated by 10 to 30 percent of North America's entire population.
This is why analyzing the presence of forever chemicals in their waters is highly important for the health of the population. The authors hope that this research will help inform future policies aimed at decreasing PFAS in the Great Lakes.
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