Kentucky Publishes Report of Findings from PFAS Drinking Water Sampling Study

This week, Kentucky published a report entitled, “Evaluation of Kentucky Community Drinking Water for Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).” The report is based on a study conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection to sample for eight PFAS compounds at 74 public water systems (PWSs) throughout the state.

The study included sample results from 81 water treatment plants, representing 74 PWSs that provide drinking water to 2.27 million people, more than half of Kentucky’s population. The PWS sample results were grouped by drinking water source (surface or ground water), by specific river and aquifer, and by land use (urban or rural) in the source water protection areas around the PWS wells or intakes. The study found detections of one or more PFAS compounds in fifteen percent of all the samples, and three percent of all the samples had PFAS detections above 5 ng/L (parts per trillion (ppt)). Out of all the PWS samples in the study that had detections of PFAS, there were none with detections of PFOA and PFOS above EPA’s health advisory level of 70 ppt. Read the report here.