![a photo of a person testing the water of a stream](https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2023/11/n21212497/jcr:content/image.img.cq5dam.thumbnail.500.500.jpg/1701726009591.jpg)
Cincinnati.com: Forever chemicals in Ohio's drinking water: Why Cincinnati is better off than Indian Hill
UC expert talks about the health threats from PFAS
New data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that industrial pollutants, known as forever chemicals, which are linked to cancer and other serious ailments, are rarely detected in samples of drinking water from Cincinnati and most nearby communities.
The chemicals turn up in drinking water all over Greater Cincinnati, but how many toxins – and how much of them – flow from your tap depends on where you live. Cincinnati.com posted a story on PFAS, reporting that in Northern Kentucky and Colerain and Springfield townships, trace amounts are sometimes found at levels exceeding the EPA's minimum reporting limits.
Water districts that serve Indian Hill, Terrace Park and Loveland found the largest amount of forever chemicals in the area, with some samples measuring three to four times the reporting limits. In the Cincinnati.com article one of the experts cited was Susan Pinney, PhD, of the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences at the UC College of Medicine.
Susan Pinney, PhD, of the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences/Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Marketing + Brand
Pinney said the half-life of PFAS compounds — the amount of time it takes the chemicals to lose half their toxicity — is about four years in the human body.
Because they take so long to break down in the body and in the environment, the amount of toxicity can build up in people who are regularly exposed to the compounds, which is why they are called “forever chemicals.”
Overhauling water treatment systems is an expensive process which poses challenges for some communities which can't afford to make the needed changes.
Every solution comes with costs, said Pinney. But she said the tougher regulations are necessary. She recently led a study that linked one PFAS compound to delays in the physical development of girls.
"As we continue to do research," she said, "we find there are health effects at lower and lower levels."
Pinney also discussed this topic as a guest on Cincinnati Edition on WVXU. Hear that interview here.
Read more about Pinney's research on how PFAS can delay puberty in girls here.
Featured image at top: vitranc/iStock
Next Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is classified as a Research 1 institution by the Carnegie Commission and is ranked in the National Science Foundation's Top-35 public research universities. UC's graduate students and faculty investigate problems and innovate solutions with real-world impact. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Bono, Chris Tucker Visit UC To Discuss Africa
December 5, 2002
U2's Bono and comedian-actor Chris Tucker led a delegation from the DATA organization who came to UC to talk about potentially catastrophic problems in Africa.
New Year's Help for Those Looking to Kick the Habit
December 20, 2002
Quitting smoking consistently ranks among the top three resolutions made by New Year's resolvers each year.
E-BRIEF: Let's Toast to a Healthier 2003
January 8, 2003
The New Year often means a new health kick: Vows to tone up and trim down, and maybe going to the doctor and getting ourselves as regularly "maintenanced" as we do our cars. So, this week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing examines the health concerns of the young and old, and what you should be doing to preserve your good health.
Today's ML King Events: One On, One Off
January 8, 2003
A memorial march, presentations, poetry and dance will pay tribute to the slain civil rights leader.
UC Named Lead Organization for OSHA Training Consortium
January 13, 2003
UC Continuing Medical Education (CME) has been selected as the lead organization for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Great Lakes Training Consortium by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Ignorance of Stroke s Warning Signs a Barrier to Treatment; More Education Needed, UC Researchers Report in JAMA
January 13, 2003
Demographic groups facing the greatest risk of death and disability from stroke are the least likely to recognize stroke s warning signs and risk factors, according to a study by UC researchers published in the January 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Ignorance of Stroke s Warning Signs a Barrier to Treatment; More Education Needed, UC Researchers Report in JAMA
January 14, 2003
Demographic groups facing the greatest risk of death and disability from stroke are the least likely to recognize stroke s warning signs and risk factors, according to a study by UC researchers published in the January 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
UC Researchers Find New Link Between the Eye and the Clock in the Brain
January 20, 2003
Results of a study done by a team of researchers working in the laboratories of Michael Lehman, PhD, professor, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy at the UC College of Medicine, will appear in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience.
UC Researchers Find New Link Between the Eye and the Clock in the Brain
January 21, 2003
Results of a study done by a team of researchers working in the laboratories of Michael Lehman, PhD, professor, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy at the UC College of Medicine, will appear in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience.
Leader of Fetal Surgery to Deliver Lectures at UC
January 31, 2003
An internationally recognized authority on fetal surgery will lecture at the UC Medical Center, representing the first of a series of lectures on fetal surgery presented by the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn).