Reporting for this story comes from the series Safe to Drink, a podcast that follows stories of water contamination in New England by Mara Hoplamazian from New Hampshire Public Radio.
"Forever chemicals" are everywhere — in our drinking water, in our food and in products like nonstick frying pans, raincoats and even some types of floss.
Also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or "PFAS," these chemicals have been linked to negative health outcomes, including certain cancers.
PFAS are strong and can repel both water and oil, which is why they're widely used in manufacturing. But they don't break down easily in the environment, and they can linger in our bodies. In fact, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, nearly everyone in the United States has PFAS in their blood.
"They have really unique properties, and that's part of what has made them so attractive to industry. Unfortunately, we're learning that it is also something that makes them toxic and causes problems in the human body," says Megan Romano, an epidemiologist at Dartmouth who studies PFAS.
Eliminating all sources of PFAS in your life would be impossible, according to one report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. And researchers are still trying to pin down which actions reduce exposure.
But it's worth trying. Research has found that when people remove their exposures, the levels of these contaminants in their bodies decrease over the course of several years.
If you'd like to reduce your exposure to PFAS, there are a few actions you can take. Some are simple, like looking for third-party-tested PFAS-free products. Others aren't as straightforward; the U.S. is still trying to figure out where these chemicals are showing up in food and water.
Check if your water has been tested
If your community has water contaminated by PFAS chemicals, drinking water could be your main source of exposure. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, they're in nearly half of the nation's tap water.
Many cities and towns have already tested public water for these chemicals, so a good first step is to check with your water utility to see if they have published those results. To do that, you can call your utility's customer service line or look online to see if they've published PFAS data in water quality reports.
In many states, environmental regulators may also be able to share information about PFAS levels in public water. The deadline for water utilities to test for PFAS chemicals under the current Environmental Protection Agency regulations is 2027, so if results aren't available yet, they should be by then.
If you're on a private well instead of on public water, you may need to test your water yourself. Some states have programs to help with the expense and logistics.
The U.S. Geological Survey has a map that shows their testing results across the country. An interactive EPA map shows testing results for public water systems, with systems testing above national limits in brown. Another map, from a nonprofit called the Environmental Working Group, shows results from several national testing efforts.
Once you figure out the levels of PFAS chemicals in your water, you can compare them to the EPA's regulations. You can also enter them into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's blood level estimation tool, which can give you a sense of what the levels of these chemicals in your blood might be.
See if your community is installing filters, or consider getting your own
If you find out your water has levels of PFAS chemicals above the EPA's limits, check to see if your community is planning to install a filtration system that can catch those substances. Public water systems are required to reduce PFAS in water by 2029, or by 2031 under an extension proposed by the Trump administration.
There are a few kinds of treatment systems that work on PFAS contamination: activated carbon filters, ion exchange treatment and reverse osmosis.
If you decide to get your own filter, make sure it is certified to treat PFAS contamination. You'll want to look for certifications from NSF International and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Specifically, filters that are "NSF/ANSI 53"- or "NSF/ANSI 58"-certified should work to reduce PFAS chemicals — though their current requirements aren't based on the latest EPA limits.
The upfront cost of in-home water treatment can range from around $20 for pitcher-style filters to hundreds or thousands of dollars for whole-home systems. But make sure to factor in maintenance costs, too — it's important to follow the instructions that come with the treatment system and replace parts as needed.
Consider your food
When PFAS chemicals get into the environment, they can make their way into our food.
According to the National Academies report, diet is likely the primary way people are exposed to PFAS in places without drinking water contamination. But, researchers say, longer-term studies are needed to assess how effective different interventions might be for reducing exposure from food.
Some meat, dairy products and chicken eggs have been found to contain PFAS chemicals, but initial results from Food and Drug Administration research show that most detectable PFAS were found in seafood. Federal regulators recommend people avoid eating fish from waterways that have been impacted by PFAS. Produce grown with contaminated water can also become a source of exposure.
Take an inventory of products in your life that may contain PFAS
Researchers are still studying how much consumer products influence the levels of PFAS in our bodies, and the National Academies report says there's not enough evidence to suggest that changing our use of consumer products would decrease our exposure.
But knowing which products contain PFAS can still help if you're trying to limit those chemicals in your life.
PFAS chemicals have been used widely in consumer products, in part because they are very good at making things waterproof, slippery or resistant to the elements. If you want to start looking for PFAS in your home, look for items that have those properties.
In the kitchen, you might find PFAS in nonstick frying pans, waffle irons, rice cookers or muffin tins. In your closet, they may be in waterproof coats or hiking pants. Carpets, upholstery, tablecloths and other household items treated to be durable, waterproof or stain-resistant could also contain PFAS.
Personal care products like dental floss, diapers, menstrual products, moisturizer and makeup are also potential sources of PFAS exposure, though some companies are discontinuing the use of those chemicals in their products.
Consider replacing items you use most
Dartmouth's Megan Romano says she usually recommends starting with the products that have the most contact with your skin.
"Look for moisturizers or foundations or bronzers, things that you're going to put on your face or your body and leave there all day," she says.
The use of PFAS in cosmetics may be declining, according to a FDA report from 2025. That report said the safety of most of the top PFAS chemicals used in cosmetics could not be determined, because the federal government does not have enough data on their toxicity.
If you're looking for PFAS-free products, try to figure out if a company has conducted third-party testing, meaning they've had their products tested by an independent lab.
When buying new products, you can look for the ingredient "PTFE" or other ingredients with "fluoro" in the name to figure out if PFAS chemicals have been added intentionally. The Consumer Product Safety Commission may be able to answer questions about PFAS in household goods.
These days, more and more manufacturers are phasing out PFAS. Chemical companies like 3M and BASF are stopping their production and use of the chemicals, and major brands like Dick's Sporting Goods and Sephora say they're working to remove or reduce PFAS in the products they sell.
The website PFAS Central has a directory of PFAS-free products, which includes more than 150 brands that say their products are PFAS-free.
And when major manufacturers cut down on PFAS use, that affects our health, too. Research shows that when the production and use of certain PFAS chemicals declined, the levels of those chemicals in the blood of Americans dropped over time.
This story was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is CJ Riculan. We'd love to hear from you. Email us at LifeKit@npr.org. Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.
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