The Environmental Protection Agency will require water treatment plants to eliminate a group of chemicals from drinking water. The agency says operators must remove as many of the chemicals as possible using the most advanced technology available.
The chemicals in question are known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoralkyl substances and commonly referred to as "forever chemicals" because they don't decompose or break down into harmless components. More than 12,000 of them have been developed. They are used in thousands of products and are discharged freely into wastewater. Research links them to such health issues as cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, fertility, liver damage, endocrine disruption, and cholesterol.
Researchers have found at least one of the chemicals in 45 percent of the water samples they have tested across the nation.
Spokesman for water utilities say the measure will drive up the cost of water, forcing consumers to pay higher bills.
Sounds right. Water without cancer-causing additives is more expensive. Next argument?