Upton, colleagues request federal efforts to ensure clean drinking water in schools

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) joined a bipartisan group of three dozen lawmakers in requesting that the Trump administration combat PFAS chemicals in educational and childcare facilities across the nation.

“We write to express our concerns regarding possible toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the drinking water of our nation’s schools and childcare facilities,” wrote Rep. Upton and his colleagues in an Oct. 1 letter sent to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

“We urge you to protect the health of our children, families and communities by taking comprehensive and urgent measures to identify and remediate PFAS chemicals in the drinking water of schools and childcare facilities across the country,” the lawmakers wrote.

A recent analysis of EPA and state data shows at least 27 schools and childcare facilities in 18 states, including Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that are located within 5,000 feet of manufacturers that are known or suspected of producing or using PFAS, according to their letter, which also includes the signatures of 36 other congressmen.

“Based on available state data, at least 110 schools and childcare facilities have tested positive for PFAS in their drinking water across the country,” Rep. Upton and his colleagues wrote, noting that these toxic chemicals present a danger to children, whose exposure may affect growth, learning and behavior and have been linked to cancer and damage to both reproductive and immune systems in adults.

Rep. Upton and the lawmakers requested that the EPA and Education Department work together on eight recommendations they made to:

• Finalize the determination of PFAS chemicals as regulated contaminants under the Safe Drinking Water Act;
• Enact national drinking water standards for all measurable PFAS chemicals and ensure they apply to educational facilities;
• Create national standards under the Clean Water Act restricting industrial discharges of PFAS chemicals, including near schools and childcare facilities;
• Provide schools and childcare facilities resources to test and report results for PFAS in facility drinking water systems;
• Develop a publicly accessible database of schools and childcare facilities where PFAS is detected and a national notification system to alert families, students and workers at these facilities about possible exposure;
• Work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments to provide parents, family members, students, and workers information on the health hazards of PFAS exposure and applicable resources to seek health care, including blood testing;
• Conduct a nationwide study on PFAS exposure in school and childcare facilities;
• And provide guidance to schools and childcare facilities on ways to reduce exposures to PFAS in items like cookware, food packaging, floor and furniture wax, carpeting and upholstery.