You may have seen previous articles about the challenges of maintaining good health in the face of excessive environmental pollution. My April 2024 column reviewed the staggering amounts of microplastics in our air, water and food, while also highlighting growing concerns about a class of products called “forever chemicals.” In the two years since that review, scientists have learned much more about these contaminants, and public concerns have increased significantly.
Most plastics have great economic value because they are inexpensive and they can be produced to serve an incredible array of needs. Take a look at the products around your home and you cannot fail to appreciate just how pervasive plastics have become in our lives. The problem is that most plastics are highly durable, even those that are reputed to be biodegradable. When plastics enter our environment in their original form or in tiny fragments called microplastics, they can persist for decades or longer.
Microplastics are now ubiquitous, found just about everywhere on Earth. They have been documented in the most remote parts of the globe and high into the atmosphere. Of greater concern, perhaps, is that microplastics have invaded our drinking water supplies, as well as many of our foods.
This plastic waste has clear impacts on the environment because it is often toxic to animals and, ultimately, to humans. There is increasing evidence that environmental pollutants are contributing to serious human health problems, such as respiratory ailments and autoimmune diseases.
In recent years, Maine has become a poster child for the damage done to the environment and human health by more than 15,000 compounds known as “forever chemicals.” You will often read abbreviations for their complicated chemical names, among them PFOA, PFOS and PFAS. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals were developed for their versatility and resilience, finding their way into thousands of everyday products. The problem is that the use of these chemicals far outpaced the scientific understanding of their long-term impact on the environment and human health.
The Maine State Legislature is trying to eliminate any future use of these compounds within the state. We have stopped spreading contaminated municipal waste on our fields, and limited cleanup efforts are underway. Given that nearly every human blood sample in studies has been found to contain these chemicals, it appears that much of the damage may already have been done. Since the chemicals have found their way into freshwater aquifers, rivers and the sea, a cleanup effort begins to look like a Herculean task well beyond Maine’s resources.
A recent report from my alma mater, Clarkson University, in upstate New York, caught my eye. While experimenting with a novel technology for water treatment, researchers found that not only could they clean up a large number of compounds in municipal water systems, they also could rapidly break down forever chemicals — not just segregate them as waste, but destroy them. The technology uses plasma — an energized gas — to disrupt the powerful chemical bonds that make forever chemicals so durable. The company, DMAX Plasma, is already working with municipal customers and hopes to scale up dramatically.
How do you protect your family from consuming more of these harmful pollutants, particularly those in the water we need for survival? The problem was exacerbated in Brunswick in August 2024, when 50,000 gallons of water contaminated with 1,450 gallons of PFAS-based firefighting foam escaped into the environment, adding to the already high amounts of forever chemicals in area waters. Most Harpswell residents are downstream of the site, and we depend on well water for drinking and cooking.
Mary, my wife, had our well water tested, and the level of pollutants was shocking, despite three household water treatment systems. She sought a workable solution to the problem, hoping to avoid buying water in bulk or creating more plastic waste. The result is an effective and highly rated 23-cup filtration and dispenser system called ZeroWater, available from Amazon for $30. (Replacement filters cost $15.) With industry standard certification, the filters remove 99.9% of harmful contaminants, including PFOA and PFOS, lead, arsenic, mercury and chromium. The system comes with a digital tester that confirms a dramatic reduction of dissolved solids in your drinking water.
While the scale of the pollution problems around us seems overwhelming, it is comforting to take simple steps to help protect our loved ones. Good luck!
