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Video: How Much PFAS is Too Much? The Shocking Truth About Water Contamination – with PFAS Lawyer Paulsen.
January 19, 2025
Transcript
Introduction: PFAS Contamination in Drinking Water
Good afternoon, Tracy Paulson of Rightful Legal. You’ve probably seen a few of my videos regarding PFAS and the contamination in water supplies. Today, I wanted to talk about how much PFAS is actually considered dangerous in your drinking water.
PFAS Safety Levels & Exposure
The federal EPA has set maximum contaminant levels at four parts per trillion. To give you an idea of what that is, that’s equivalent to four drops of water in the size volume of 20 Olympic swimming pools, so that’s a very small amount.
In Massachusetts, the limits have been set at 20 parts per trillion, which is far above the federal limits. Also, the US EPA has recently stated that no amount of PFAS chemicals in any amount are considered safe for consumption and drinking water by human beings.
PFAS Presence in Massachusetts
Across the state, many cities, towns, and private wells are riddled with these forever chemicals. It’s important to know that these chemicals can be found in consumer products such as Teflon and Cortex. However, drinking through the water supply is the number one way of contamination in human beings for this chemical to enter your body and bioaccumulate.
Cities with High PFAS Levels
I wanted to talk about some cities and towns that have particularly high alarming amounts of PFAS. Some of these numbers are from a 2021 study by the Sierra Club. Some of these limits may have been brought down or rectified since that time, but if you’ve been exposed at any time since 1990 to these levels, then you are at extreme risk for health issues.
Some of these numbers include:
- Air: 248 parts per trillion
- Acton: 93 parts per trillion
- Carlisle: 104 parts per trillion
- Mashpee: 104 parts per trillion
- Princeton: 410 parts per trillion
- Sharon, Massachusetts: 108 parts per trillion
- Stow: 96 parts per trillion
- Westfield (due to its location by the military base): 310 parts per trillion
- Hyannis: close to 800 parts per trillion at one time
There are many cities and towns that have high levels here in Massachusetts. For example, in Westwood, the drinking water limits are 15 parts per trillion as of 2024, which far exceeds the zero percent amount considered safe in drinking water.
Health Risks from PFAS Exposure
These forever chemicals can cause a myriad of health issues including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, infertility, and they are also linked to life-threatening illnesses such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid cancer, and liver cancer.
Ongoing Lawsuit and How to Participate
There is a current lawsuit that you could be part of and possibly be eligible for. This lawsuit is active now, so time is of the essence. If you want to talk about this and see if you perhaps qualify, I’d be more than happy to have an initial free consultation with you.
My number is 617-821-5856.
Additional Resources & Contact
Please also go to my website at rightfullegal.com. I have many articles about particular cities and towns and what’s going on there with PFAS, along with information about the possibility of joining the lawsuit.
Please like this channel and subscribe above to stay current with these videos. I’ll be doing more in the future.
Thank you again, and I look forward to hearing from you.
