A Wild Virginia Town Hall to Discuss PFAS takes place Tuesday, October 10 at 7:00 pm; the event is free. Registration is required.
The hour-long event will share ways individuals, organizations, and governments can work to protect waters and communities from these dangerous “forever chemicals.”
What are PFAS and what do we know about them?
Wild Virginia does a solid job explaining PFAS in Preventing PFAS Pollution, writing:
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are toxic, synthetic chemicals that are present throughout Virginia in the air, water, and soil. They linger in the environment and build up in organisms, taking so long to break down they have earned the name forever chemicals, leading to widespread contamination and long-lasting risk of exposure.
The Wild Virginia explanation includes examples of where PFAS are found—nonstick cookware and candy wrappers, for example—and an easy-to-understand and -follow graphic about the lifecycle of PFAS created by the Southern Enviornmental Law Center. In addition, the organization is running a campaign and seeks individual and organizational support.
Wild Virginia is not alone in sharing information about PFAS in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Department of Environmental Quality’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) page provides a range of information about these chemicals, mostly in map form.
Since 2021, DEQ has been monitoring PFAS in streams, rivers, and reservoirs across the Commonwealth to understand the prevalence of these substances and to identify potential locations where PFAS concentrations are elevated relative to baseline concentrations. DEQ maintains a dashboard that presents the results of these PFAS samples.
DEQ’s Statewide PFAS Sampling Dashboard “presents PFAS detection and concentrations without respect to screening thresholds or regulatory standards.” Surface water, sediment, and fish tissue sampling results data are in the dashboard.
The Virginia Department of Health is required by law to study PFAS in drinking water. Head over to Study of the Occurrence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Commonwealth’s Public Drinking Water – December 1, 2021 to learn more. In addition, VDH has info and links to a variety of drinking water and PFAS resources on their website.