Read the full article by Paula Gardner (MLive)
“Michigan started testing all public water supplies for PFAS chemicals in 2018, an effort that snowballed into test after test across the state.
Rivers. Lakes. Fish. School water systems. Wastewater. Landfills.
Along the way, residents learned what kinds of risks are associated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances – like cancer, kidney disease, infertility and developmental delays. They also learned that the federal government doesn’t regulate the toxic fluorocarbons in drinking water.
For the people who learned they had consumed high levels of PFAS, the news was scary and infuriating.
And then, in early 2019, Michigan’s newly elected governor, Gretchen Whitmer, promised still more attention to the chemicals The most dramatic are PFAS limits for drinking water that will protect residents from the chemicals that never were meant for human consumption. Those are already being studied and could become law by 2020.
But is the scrutiny too late for some Michigan residents?
That’s a remaining question as anger remains in the towns most critically affected by PFAS – the places where levels were extremely high, yet government didn’t act. A warning sat dormant in a state office – for six years. A city balked at making a closed tannery test its own property for contamination. No one raised concerns as houses were built near a closed industrial dump.
Seth and Tobyn McNaughton are among the people most affected. Their son, Jack, has some of the highest recorded levels of PFAS in his blood…”