The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed legal standards on concentrations of man-made “forever chemicals” in Americans’ drinking water. [EPA Proposes Limits for 'Forever Chemicals' in Drinking Water - wsj.com]
Perfluoroalkyls and similar compounds are found in many plastics and cosmetic products. They take years to break down in the environment and cause illness in lab rats at high doses. Whether they are a danger at the levels people are exposed to is unclear: They have been linked to cancer and ecological damage, as well as to lowered testosterone levels and declining sperm count in Western males, although those findings are controversial. The EPA wants a limit of four parts per trillion in drinking water, the lowest level detectable.
