Minnesota regulators are broadening their search for sites contaminated by a class of industrial chemicals known as PFAS, which have turned into a major environmental threat across the country.
It's a major step in the state's effort to contain pollution by the so-called "forever chemicals," a project that until now has focused mainly on the east metro communities where 3M Co. made and disposed of such compounds for several decades.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will expand the hunt to four counties, using a list of industries that have historically used the chemicals in their operations. The agency plans to sample local water first, then contact companies. The companies involved may have used products containing PFAS without knowing it.
"The goal is to make sure we know in Minnesota theoretically where it could be used, and check on it," said MPCA Assistant Commissioner Kirk Koudelka, "just to make sure we're not having any gaps."
While it's a significant expansion of the state's PFAS monitoring efforts, some conservation groups remain critical. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy group that has pushed for greater research and regulation of the chemicals, said Minnesota should have started tracking down industrial sources earlier, because state and federal regulators knew a decade ago that metal plating facilities were discharging the compounds.
PFAS are a family of fluorinated compounds dubbed "forever chemicals" because they don't break down in the environment. Prized by industry for their ability to repel oil and water, the compounds have been used since the 1950s in untold numbers of consumer products such as cellphones, waterproof mascara, brake fluid and hospital gowns. They have also turned up across the globe in fish, polar bears and bald eagles, as well as in food wrappers and lettuce.
Pinpointing the industrial sources of the contaminants — beyond the manufacturers who make them — can be very difficult. U.S. chemical manufacturers stopped making the original compounds, called PFOA and PFOS. But the compounds are made elsewhere, and there are hundreds of other PFAS compounds in active use — and companies aren't required to disclose their use of them.
The compounds can be toxic to animals, and some are associated with serious human health effects such as cancers, thyroid problems and pregnancy-induced hypertension. There is a global movement to restrict use of all PFAS.