Stoiber and her colleagues at EWG observe the consumer water filter systems available in the United States. The organization’s trials found that frequent pit filters of brands like British and Berkey Don’t all remove pfa’s just as well. But some are doing a great job, based on EWG’s tests, including the pit filter system made by Epic Water Filters, a US firm.
“I would say that PFAS is from afar the number one pollutant, which we receive feedback for our clients worried,” says Joel Stevens, co -founder of Epic Water Filters. The filters his company makes for its water pits include a carbon block. “Thousands of thousands of layers of carbon fibers that are wrapped around,” he explains. As the water hits these fibers, the carbon takes out PFAs and other contaminants, including chlorine and lead.
In about three months, the company will launch a new pit filter, which can also extract heavy metals and fluoride. Fluoride is added to water in some areas to improve dental health, although some people would rather not drink it due to a possible connection between fluoride and adverse neurological effects. Scientific analysis suggests However, the risk of clicking water in countries such as the United States is extremely low.
While there are some very effective water -filter products on the market, says Stoiber, many people still throw spent filters in the garbage, which means they finally end up at Vertars, where the PFAs can leak into the environment again.
Customers of epic water filters can return their worn filters to the company. “The filters are then sent to a special recycling center, where the plastic is recycled and the internal filters Incineras,” says Stevens in a next email.
Stoiber’s research suggests that some forms of pfas incineration materials can release harmful compositions into the environment. “We still don’t have good available recommendations for worn treatment resources,” she says. It is possible to break pfas compositions, however, at Extremely high temperaturesEven up to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,730 F). Some researchers are currently exploring how chemical additives such as granular activated carbon could Reduce the required amount of heat Destroy pfas compositions.
There is another problem with current approaches to PFAs. “Community-level drinking water treatment is what is needed at the time, because the costs should not fall on the individual,” says Stoiber. “It doesn’t have to be unfair who has a filter that is not exposed.”
While some US drinking water facilities are now installing large-scale PFAS filter technology, As in Tampa, Floridathe cost to do this through the nation could spiral into the billionsaccording to some analyzes. While Stoiber says the most effective strategy to avoid PFAS pollution is not to use these chemicals in the first place, countless companies still do, and it could be long before they disappear completely from consumer products if that ever happens.
Currently, there is the risk that Trump administration could weaken the new US water regulations that require the removal of some PFAS molecules from carpet water supplies, Stoiber says. “We are fighting to protect the laws of drinking water that have been recently passed,” she says. “I think all eyes are on that.”
