Tennyson, in Warrick County, is one of 10 Indiana communities where testing has found PFAS chemicals in treated drinking water.
Approximately 1,600 people who receive drinking water from the Tennyson Water Utility may be affected.
Tennyson’s water sampling results were below the EPA health advisory level and Indiana Department of Environmental Management's action level, said Barry Sneed, a spokesman for the state environmental agency.
PFAS are a group of widely used industrial and commercial chemicals that break down slowly and can build up in people, animals and the environment. Several of the chemicals were found in Tennyson's water.
"Tennyson had very low detections of PFNA, PFOA, and PFOS in the finished drinking water results," Sneed said. "PFNA has an action level of 21 parts per trillion and Tennyson reported results at 5.6 (parts per trillion)."
PFOA and PFOS were detected at 2.0 and 2.4 ppt respectively, he said. The EPA's health advisory level for the chemicals is 70 ppt.
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PFAS chemicals also were detected in the water from another Southwestern Indiana drinking water system, Dubois Water Utility, in northeast Dubois County.
None of the 10 communities were found to have levels of the chemical above the U.S. EPA’s safe health advisory level.
However, the chemicals have been linked to an increased risk for some kinds of cancers, including kidney, prostate and testicular cancers. They have also been linked to other health effects.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management began testing community public water systems for PFAS chemicals last year. The first round of sampling looked at 59 water systems serving between 3,300 and 10,000 people.
Is the water safe?
The chemicals were not detected over the EPA's health advisory level and IDEM is not requiring any actions as a result.
Where does the water come from?
Tennyson purchases its water from the Patoka Lake Regional Water & Sewer District. It gets the water from Patoka Lake Reservoir in Dubois, Crawford and Orange counties.
How did the chemicals get there?
"We don't know," said Doug Merkel, the water district's general manager. "We don't believe it is from our system."
He said the chemicals were not detected when Patoka's water was last tested in 2013. Patoka's water will be tested in 2023 when IDEM begins sampling larger community water systems.
Merkel said the Patoka district serves about 100,000 residents in nine counties, by providing treated water to 30 area utilities such as Tennyson and Dubois, as well as its own customers.
What are PFAS chemicals?
PFAS (polufluoroalkyl substances) are a widely used group of chemicals that have been used in consumer products sine the 1950s. They break down slowly and can build up in people, animals and the environment. Studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.
Are the chemicals harmful?
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says studies suggest high levels of certain PFAS chemicals are linked to:
- • Increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer
- • Immune system effects
- • ;cholesterol
- • Decreased vaccine response in children
- • Changes in liver enzymes
- • Increased risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia in pregnant women
- • Small decreases in infant birth weights.
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- How are people exposed?
The CDC says drinking contaminated municipal or private well water is the main way people are exposed to PFAS. Other ways are eating fish from contaminated water, swallowing contaminated dust or soil and eating food from packaging containing PFAS are the main way people are exposed.
Because low levels of PFAS are so common in food and the environment, it's unlikely exposure to them can be completely eliminated, according to the CDC.