Read the full article by John Aguilar (Canon City Daily Record)
“State health officials announced Tuesday that statewide water sampling found that no treated drinking water tested for toxic fluorochemicals, known as ‘forever chemicals’ due to their pervasive nature, exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory level.
But the state did find higher levels of the chemicals, which commonly originate from toxic firefighting foam, in some groundwater sources, a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment news release said.
CDPHE sampled 400 water systems and 15 firefighting districts, as well as 152 groundwater sources and 71 surface water sources like rivers and streams for fluorochemicals, known as PFAS. The sampling included about half of the drinking water systems in the state serving around 75% of Colorado’s population.
‘The current results show that no drinking water tested above the EPA health advisory for two chemicals,’ said Kristy Richardson, state toxicologist at CDPHE. ‘At the same time, we know science is evolving, and we are committed to using the most current and best available information to provide health-based guidance on exposure to the chemicals.’
A sample collected at the mouth of Sand Creek in Commerce City tested above the EPA drinking water health advisory, but the state isn’t aware of anyone directly drinking this affected water. Nonetheless, high levels of the chemicals in streams can impact downstream drinking water supplies, state health officials warned…”