EWG’s fight against PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” reaches back 20 years.
If the public had heard of a PFAS chemical two decades ago, it was probably because of Teflon. But that was about the extent of public awareness. Before EWG mapped PFAS contamination, people didn’t know what or where it was or whether they should care about it.
In the years since, EWG has made sure people understand the problem was everywhere.
EWG mapped the country’s PFAS-contaminated drinking water sources. This novel mapping initiative is now a go-to resource for the media. Journalists from the biggest to the smallest outlets rely on it as they wade into reporting on these chemicals and what they’ve polluted.
In 2012, the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 was finalized to ensure drinking systems tested for six individual PFAS chemicals. As a result, an enormous amount of new nationwide data became available, the kind EWG had never before encountered. They quickly realized PFAS contamination was even more widespread than feared – potentially a public health problem for communities in every state and therefore a massive public health issue. EWG started learning more, working with key members of Congress, putting together timelines about what the biggest PFAS polluters knew – polluters including 3M and Dupont and the Department of Defense – and when they knew it.
In 2019, the National Defense Authorization Bill finally addressed PFAS contamination at military installations across the country. EWG played a role from the very beginning.
The work paid off. In March 2023, The Environmental Protection Agency announced a national drinking water standard using maximum contaminant levels, or MCsL, in drinking water for six notorious PFAS chemicals. The legally enforced limits will require utilities to clean and filter their water until it reaches the standard.
What makes this a true BFD is the agency hasn’t set a new MCL for drinking water since 1996.