PFAS

If you like rainbow smelt from Michigan lakes, you may want to limit how many servings you eat. The state has recently updated its fish consumption guidelines to account for PFAS chemicals in smelt and carp.

2022 ended a few weeks ago. That’s the year the EPA promised to set drinking water standards on toxic PFAS chemicals. Now, more than 100 groups are urging the Biden administration to release the standards without any more delay.

Long awaited plans to clean PFAS chemicals from the Rogue River will now have to until 2024; the delay comes after a proposed plan by Wolverine Worldwide has been scrapped for a new one.(EGLE) to start construction of a remediation system on the Rogue River in September. That did not happen, forcing the state department to issue the Rockford based shoemaker a violation, while telling the company to hurry up.

PFAS are chemicals used to make stain-, grease-, and water- resistant products. But they’re also toxic - and there aren’t many alternatives on the market.

Most regulation on toxic PFAS chemicals is focused on drinking water, but PFAS can also get into the food supply through contaminated fertilizer.

Health officials are looking for more volunteers from Oscoda to participate in a study on how and where people were exposed to chemicals like PFAS.

A recent study found that PFAS - or toxic “forever chemicals” - in Lake Michigan coho salmon, chinook salmon, lake trout, and rainbow trout can accumulate and be passed down to fish embryos.

Reporter Teresa Homsi shares information on the latest PFAS research and management strategies after attending the 2022 Great Lakes PFAS Summit.

Oscoda residents were invited last week to tour the air force’s water treatment systems for PFAS chemicals at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. But the event drew mixed reactions from the very people the military was trying to win over.

Oscoda has five health advisories that warn of PFAS contamination in drinking water, venison, small game, fish, and foam. After years of community advocacy, health officials are now offering residents free blood tests for PFAS.