The Toxins

PFAS chemicals do not break down

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals, including PFOA, PFOS, GenX and many other chemicals. PFAS has been manufactured throughout the world since the 1940s.

U.S. industries have phased out the production of PFOA and PFOS because of concerns for health risks. Instead, a replacement PFAS, such as GenX, is being used. Much is known about the risks of PFOS and PFOA, much less is known about the replacement PFAS that is being used in our country, all of which have ended up in our landfills.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFOA and PFOS, the most studied of these chemicals, don’t break down in the human body or the environment. These chemicals can be absorbed and accumulated in the body, and remain for long periods of time. And with continued exposure, these chemicals will build up over time causing various health problems.

Despite the potential risks of PFAS, the EPA has not developed any safety standards for allowable levels.  In July of 2018, the Vermont Department of Health established a safety standard of 20 parts per trillion. (ppt)

High levels of PFAS were detected when testing two of the landfill’s monitoring wells, according to Waite Hendel, an environmental consulting firm in Burlington, Vermont. Test results showed a level of 116 ppt of PFAS in a well down gradient of the unlined, 13-acre landfill portion, nearly six times the Vermont safety standard. Test results also showed a level of 6.7 ppt adjacent to and down gradient from a lined area of the landfill.

In addition, tests in May 2018 by the environmental and infrastructure consultants Weston & Sampson concluded:

• “PFAS concentrations in landfill leachate are elevated, with the highest concentrations at the NewsVT landfill (located in Coventry.)”
• “Differences in effluent and influent PFAS concentrations at the Montpelier WWTF (waste water treatment facility) and the Newport WWTF were significant (between 18 and 80 ng/l) and may require further analysis.”
• Charts that accompanied Weston & Sampson’s report showed several chemicals testing above the set safety standards.

Leachate from the Coventry landfill is treated at the waste water treatment facility in Montpelier, resulting in PFAS being dumped into the Winooski River and Lake Champlain.  Newport received landfill leachate for processing for over nine years, and the treated waste water was dumped into the Clyde River that feeds into Lake Memprhemagog.  Because these treatment facilities are not able to treat inorganic and separate out soluble waste like PFAS, they flow right into the water ways where they will remain.

Drinking water is one source for exposure to these chemicals.  Lake Memphremagog, with two-thirds of its length extending into Canada, is the source of drinking water for 185,000 Canadians.  Lake Champlain is also a source of drinking water to over 200,000 people.

The health risks connected with exposure to PFAS are:

• Increased cholesterol levels.
• Low infant birth weights.
• Interference with the immune system.
• Cancer.
• Thyroid hormone disruption.