Read the full article by Mehr Sher (Bangor Daily News)
“Poland Spring, a top-selling national brand of bottled water, detected toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in its spring in Fryeburg, according to state data obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
The company, owned by BlueTriton Brands Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut, detected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in its groundwater source in the western Maine town at 4.6 parts per trillion, according to the results it voluntarily submitted to the Maine Drinking Water Program.
Poland Spring said that, while the spring water has PFAS, it has not detected the chemicals in its bottled water because the company is filtering the water it sells. It declined to provide the test results of its bottled water to the BDN.
Under a new law, community drinking water systems are required to test their water supplies for the chemicals, but water bottling companies are not. So the state asked water bottlers to test voluntarily.
By August, only three out of 11 Maine water bottlers had tested for PFAS and submitted their results to the state.
As of Jan. 19, most still had not tested their water sources, setting up a potential debate in the Maine Legislature over whether the companies should be transparent about whether their water contains the chemicals…
…Of 11 water bottling companies in Maine, only five have tested their water for PFAS, according to the most recent data from the state’s drinking water program. One of the water bottlers had tested just one of its two springs.
Of the five that tested, two companies discovered PFAS in their water sources.”…