Water is essential to life. When we turn on the tap, we expect clean and pure water to flow. But, increasingly, that’s not the case. In recent years, criminally high levels of lead were found in water in Flint, Michigan, and many major cities are plagued with lead in their water pipes. Towns located near chemical factories often have high levels of toxic chemicals in their water.

And then there are chemicals that seem to be everywhere, such as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), some of the most alarming contaminants turning up in tap water. PFAS is a class of 12,000 chemicals used to create thousands of products, including firefighting foam, non-stick cookware, and water repellant clothing. In our work at Green America, we’ve discovered that PFAS can come from surprising places, including even refrigerants (see “Keeping Our Cool Without Risking Our Health” p. 22).

And it’s showing up in our water—PFAS has been detected in the tap water of many major metropolitan regions including Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans and the suburbs of New York City. Over 200 million Americans have been potentially exposed and that number is growing, which is alarming for a number of reasons.

All toxic PFAS, called “forever chemicals,” do not easily break down in the environment and can accumulate in the human body over time. Because these chemicals have been released into our environment in increasing amounts over several decades, many of us already have some level of PFAS in our bodies. Exposure has been linked to a plethora of human health issues, such as cancer, immune suppression, reduced fertility, and developmental abnormalities.

Countries worldwide have begun enacting policies to mitigate the amount of PFAS building up in our environment—the European Union has already banned several types of these chemicals and aims to phase them out of commercial use completely by 2030. In the U.S., we’ve seen some success, such as California’s recent decision to phase out PFAS in cookware and other commercial products, modeled on successful legislation in Maine. However, not only are we still behind Europe in regulating their use, but the Trump administration’s policies are also pulling us deeper into dangerous territory.

In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally adopted new rules to help protect
communities from being poisoned by six highly toxic PFAS via their drinking water. Over 11,000 Green Americans joined with members of allied groups to flood the EPA with comments in support of the rule. However, lobbying groups for municipal water authorities and the chemical industry quickly sued to block implementation of the rule, and in May 2025, the EPA announced it would delay implementation of the rule until 2031—putting millions of people at risk of exposure in the meantime. In a related action, the EPA is advancing four new pesticides that all contain PFAS for use on romaine lettuce, soybeans, oranges, apples, peanuts, and other crops. This will increase PFAS exposure for everyone.

So, how can we respond?

Protect your water. Install water filters in your home that meet NSF standards for removing PFAS. These filters will also remove several other contaminants.

Act now with Green America and its allies. As the EPA continues to issue rulemaking delaying the implementation of the PFAS rule and regulation of other hazards, we will continue to flood them with comments in opposition. We also need to address PFAS at the source. Currently, Green America is putting pressure on major retailers to use natural refrigerants in cooling systems, but chemical manufacturers are pushing refrigerants that result in PFAS contamination (p. 22).

Urge action at the local and state level. Call your local water authority and request information about the presence of PFAS and other contaminants in water. You can also do your own research using the Environmental Working Group’s “Know What’s in Your Tap Water” database and the U.S. Geological Survey’s interactive map. If PFAS are present in your water or you are getting the run around from your utility, work with other residents to urge your local and state officials to take action to ensure transparency and reduce harmful exposures from your drinking water.