Unfortunately, PFAS chemicals have been showing up in more community water systems and private wells each year. In April of 2024, the EPA finally came out with official guidelines for 6 of these chemicals given a review of the health impacts and for two of the most common – PFOA and PFOS – the EPA said there is virtually no safe level in drinking water when consumed daily over time.

PFAS chemicals are also referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t readily break down and can build up in our bodies. In people, repeated exposure to certain PFAS may lead to:

• Increased cholesterol levels.
• Decreased birth weights.
• Decreased immune response to vaccines.
• Changes in liver enzymes that indicate liver damage.
• Increased risk of blood pressure problems during pregnancy.
• Increased risk of thyroid disease.
• Increased risk of certain cancers.

Source: https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/contaminants/pfas

If your utility has found PFAS chemicals, they will typically disclose this in their annual water report but I also recommend reaching out to utilities to see if they’ve tested, when they last tested, and what the results were.

While not perfect, the EWG also puts together an interactive map that tracks where PFAS chemicals have been found.

You can find this map here: https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/

There have been some big developments recently with regards to fluoridated drinking water that have found that fluoridation of water at 0.7 milligrams per liter (“mg/L”) – the level presently considered “optimal” in the US – poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children when factoring in all the different ways children are exposed to fluoride.

As far as the benefits of ingested fluoride go, a recent study by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that contemporary evidence does not show a reduction in cavities of more than 4%, and there may no longer be any benefit at all with the widespread availability and use of fluoride toothpaste.

For these reasons and the fact that fluoride has been designated as a neurotoxin and endocrine disrupting chemical, I recommend filtering it out of drinking water to reduce daily exposures.

Most State Departments of Health maintain a list of accredited labs for testing your water or home tests like TapScore work well too. If testing is not within your budget, you can also review your water utility’s annual water quality report, and follow-up with your utility to request levels of other things that they test for but are not required to report out on.

The EWG has also put together a helpful water quality database based on your zip code (aggregating the same information that’s publicly available from water utilities) but it’s important to know that neither of these things will tell you exactly what is coming out of your specific taps due to things like lead that will be specific to your home’s pipes and fittings. Lead would only be detected through testing. Here’s a link to the EWG’s tap water database: https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/

In 2025, the Environmental Working Group released an analysis of data from nearly 50,000 public water utilities taken from 2021-2023. They found that water suppliers across the US recorded 324 different contaminants in our nation’s water. Since there are only ~89 contaminants regulated by the EPA, the remaining pollutants in our water are technically there “legally”. So there are likely contaminants in our water that your utility is not regularly testing for or reporting out on. Another big unknown is what happens between the water source and our taps. An estimated 6-10 million homes still contain lead piping and homes older than 1986 may also have lead in the pipe fittings as I found with my home when I tested my tap water.

For PFAS, Lead, and Arsenic, there are no levels deemed safe for long term exposure through drinking water. Both PFAS and Arsenic are carcinogens and all three are considered Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) that can have health impacts even at low levels. For this reason, I put together a FREE guide on reducing exposures to EDCs, and you can find it here: https://lowertoxliving.com/endocrine/.

First you need to understand what is present in your water. The best way to do this is to test your tap water. If testing is not within your budget, you can also review your water utility’s annual water quality report, and check the EWG’s tap water database. You’d then want to purchase the filter that will best address the main contaminants present in your tap water.

And…I can help!

This can be time consuming and confusing for many so I’ve put together a low-cost way to help give you peace of mind that your water is safer for you and your family to drink. See my Water Filter Analysis Package here.