Two streets in rural Alabama are facing 54 cancer cases and 14 cases of kidney failure. A military family has been devastated by illnesses. A farmer lost a century-old family dairy farm due to contaminated milk. PFAS “forever chemicals” are poisoning drinking water and communities across the country.

In their new book Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America, reporters Rachel Frazin and Sharon Udasin show how PFAS contamination became a national public health crisis — and they center the folks on the front lines of this crisis who are fighting for protections. 

PFAS (“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances”) refers to a class of more than 15,000 lab-made chemicals with stain-, stick-, and water-resistant properties. They don’t break down in nature, and they’re everywhere, from clothes to cookware to cosmetics. Every day, it seems, a new study emerges underscoring these chemicals’ pervasiveness and their links to a litany of health harms. 

While many of the worst harms appear with major contamination, PFAS are in all of us. The CDC estimates that 97% of people living in the United States have PFAS in their blood, where it can persist for years.

“This is a massive, massive problem that is only going to grow over the years as we learn more in scope, in scale, about health problems, about where the contamination is, about how long it lasts,” said Rachel.

In October, we sat down with Rachel and Sharon to discuss the human toll of this crisis and the heroes who have worked to turn the tide. Despite the widespread harm, there is hope and work we can do — nationwide, everyday people are joining together to defend their communities and win protections. 

The Everyday Heroes Fighting for PFAS Protections

Across the country, corporations making PFAS and using them in their products have dumped these forever chemicals into our environment and drinking water sources. As Rachel and Sharon explained, this has endangered the lives and livelihoods of people who just happen to live nearby. 

And while companies learned more about the harms of their own products, they kept mum on the science for decades, continuing to proliferate and profit from PFAS.

The authors shared the story of Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone, who received a state permit to spread sewage sludge on his fields back in the 1980s. This sludge is the semi-solid leftovers from waste treatment plants. The state of Maine encouraged farmers to use it as fertilizer for decades. But in recent years, testing showed that it’s highly contaminated with PFAS. 

“When [Fred] first found out that his area was contaminated, he got his cow’s milk tested,” Sharon told us. “He jeopardized his own business, this dairy business that’s been in his family for a hundred years. It has now crumbled to nothing. They’re in bankruptcy.”

But Fred’s personal sacrifice had an important impact. “He helped drive a lot of the forward-thinking legislation that the state of Maine has implemented,” Sharon said. Maine became the first state in the country to ban sludge-spreading and non-essential uses of PFAS. 

Fred hadn’t ever been an activist. He said he just wanted people’s water to be clean — a basic right.

A similar story repeats throughout Sharon and Rachel’s reporting, from Colorado to North Carolina to Maine and Alabama. Everyday people discovered PFAS pollution in their drinking water and took action, fielding calls from their neighbors and educating their communities. And they’ve successfully pushed local, state, and national leaders to pass protections.

Fighting for National Protections Against PFAS Forever Chemicals

Folks like Fred Stone never should have had to be heroes. But thanks to the tireless pressure from frontline activists, we’ve now seen progress on PFAS after decades of nonexistent regulations.

In 2024, the Biden administration set drinking water limits for six common PFAS, requiring public water utilities to monitor these PFAS in their drinking water supplies and install technology to filter them if they reach a certain level.

It also finalized a polluter pays rule allowing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force corporations to pay for the cleanup of major PFOA and PFOS (two common types of PFAS) pollution.

Both rules were threatened by lawsuits, and it wasn’t clear if Trump’s EPA would defend them. Food & Water Watch immediately jumped into action, driving 20,000 comments to the agency. Then, in September, the EPA announced it would defend the polluter pays law in court. 

However, the EPA also wants to axe four of the six PFAS from the drinking water rules and delay the requirements for the other two. That would add two more years during which people could be drinking contaminated water.

Sharon and Rachel’s reporting underscores the stakes of this fight — not just for these protections, but against PFAS overall. Preserving the polluter pays rule and drinking water limits are essential first steps. But we need to address this crisis at the root. To stem the flood of PFAS into our air, water, and lives, we need to end non-essential uses of all PFAS.

If there’s anything we can take from this event, it’s that everyday people do have the power to make a difference. When we come together, we can defend our food, water, and communities.

Watch “Poisoning the Well: An Author Talk with Sharon Udasin and Rachel Frazin”

Watch the full event recording to learn more about:

• How the use of PFAS-laden firefighting foam put veterans and military personnel at risk;
• What PFAS makers and the military knew about the harms of these chemicals, decades before the public found out;
• The state of technology for removing PFAS from water and destroying PFAS entirely; and
• Steps you can take to protect your family and your water from PFAS at home.

Resources and Links Shared at the Event

• If you’d like to purchase Poisoning the Well or recommend it to your local library, you can find it here. Use the code WEBINAR for 40% off.
• Our recent analysis shows how PFAS lobbying and lobbyists have inundated the Trump administration, including the EPA. Read more here.
• Check out our Consumer’s Guide to PFAS: Side-Stepping ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Your Daily Life.
• Check out our Guide to Safe Tap Water and Water Filters.
• Learn more about your tapwater with the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Tapwater Database.
• Check out Safer States’ state-by-state information about PFAS policies, drinking water standards, and lawsuits.
• Learn more about how to avoid PFAS in this article by Rachel and Sharon: “‘Forever chemicals’ are pervasive. Here are 4 ways to avoid them in consumer products.”
• Check out the Drinking Water Database from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which provides data about drinking water across the U.S.
• Read “How to Get PFAS Out of Your Drinking Water” and “How to Choose Dental Floss Without PFAS and Other Harmful Chemicals” from Consumer Reports.
• Join us for our next Livable Future LIVE on Wednesday, November 19, 2-3 pm ET: “Get Rich or Don’t Eat: Profiteering Off the Nation’s Food Crisis.” Hope to see you there!
• We have various volunteer teams and events happening across the country — click here to see opportunities.
• Your generosity helps fight for a livable future for all! Donate to Food & Water Watch!