Minnesota reduces acceptable 'forever chemicals' levels below detectability

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota is shrinking the amount of PFAS chemicals — also known as "forever chemicals" — measured in our water before they are considered dangerous to our health.

For the first time, they’re changing guidelines based on research on humans coming in and showing just how dangerous it can be, including an acknowledgment that the chemicals are likely carcinogenic.

For years, Avonna Starck has warned about the health problems associated with the forever chemicals.

"These are linked to horrible, deadly cancers, thyroid conditions, pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, low birth rates," said Starck, the Minnesota State Director for Clean Water Action. "I mean, the list goes on and on."

The Minnesota Legislature passed Amara’s Law last year, banning non-essential uses of the chemicals in firefighting foam, stain repellents, and non-stick cookware by 2032.

The law’s namesake, Amara Strande, died about a month before it passed from a rare form of liver cancer her family believes was connected to PFAS exposure in Oakdale.

"One of the really big changes that's happened over the past 20 years since we started doing this is that at first we were talking about a plume underneath the East metro, and now we're talking about soil, air, water all throughout the state," said Minnesota Department of Health Environmental Health Manager Sarah Fossen Johnson. 

And now the state is analyzing human research with results not usually seen.

"We found that humans are quite a bit more sensitive than laboratory animals," Fossen Johnson said.

The research also confirms PFAS are most likely causing cancer. The results drove the state to lower the acceptable levels of PFAS in our drinking water.

However, the new limits are not enforceable. In fact, they’re below the level of detection at current labs.

But they can guide local water systems and help the state plan for remediation to make all the drinking water safe — a project already estimated at a billion-dollar cost.

"Which would include design and construction of drinking water treatment systems, site investigation, and remedial cleanup work to address PFAS contamination in the environment," said Tom Higgins of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The limits have changed for perfluorooctanoic acid to 0.24 parts per trillion, the equivalent of a single drop of chemical in 80 Olympic-sized pools or about 53 million gallons of water.

The level potentially causing cancer is even lower at .0079 parts per trillion.

For perfluorooctane sulfuric acid, the new limit is set at 2.3 parts per trillion, while the level potentially causing cancer is 7.6 parts per trillion.