Potomac River in Washington is contaminated with toxic PFAS

Pat Elder
October 14, 2021

Bass fishing where treated sewer water is discharged into the Potomac River at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, DC

 A water sample collected from the Potomac River near the outfall of the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant showed a total of 39.8 parts per trillion (ppt) for 8 compounds of PFAS. PFAS are per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances. They are highly toxic and many are known to bioaccumulate in fish.

Think of obvious places to test for PFAS in your community, like streams flowing out of military installations or flowing past wastewater treatment facilities.

The results are shown here: (ng/L = ppt) 

We can put these numbers into perspective by examining goals set by  the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health for PFOS in fish tissue and river water. The value for surface water in the land of 10,000 lakes is a maximum 0.05 nanograms per liter (ng/L) while the value for fish tissue is a maximum 0.37 nanograms per gram (ng/g).  With a concentration of 7.8 ng/L of PFOS in the Potomac River, D.C. is 156 times over the Minnesota target.

Unlike most states, Washington, D.C. has not established regulations for PFAS in any media. The city is also at a disadvantage because it is geographically part of EPA Region 3, arguably,  the laxest region in the country in terms of the enforcement of environmental regulations.

Let’s look at Minnesota’s goals for water and fish again. 

.05 ng/L for the water is the same as .05 parts per trillion (ppt), while .37 ng/g is the same as .37 parts per billion, or 370 ppt. So, Minnesota is concerned that PFOS concentrations of surface water above .05 ppt may potentially equate to dangerous levels of 370 ppt or more in fish tissue. There’s an argument to be made that Minnesota ought to make the fish tissue target even more stringent considering that the state limits PFOS in drinking water to 15 ppt.

People just don’t seem to be able to wrap their heads around this stuff. These are tiny amounts and these are extraordinarily toxic substances.

We haven’t addressed the other 32 parts per trillion of PFAS in the Potomac River. The 6.1 ppt of PFOA is arguably, the most problematic. Linda Birnbaum, the nation’s former top toxicologist argues the limit for PFOA in drinking water ought to be .1 ppt. Research indicates that PFOA in the tiniest levels is linked to pancreatic cancer. Regrettably, much of the science is limited to PFOS and PFOA.

Detractors and industry cheerleaders say drinking water is one thing, but river water is another. They hope we forget that these chemicals never go away. As a human society we cannot afford to be using and recklessly discarding these synthetic killers. The carcinogens in the river find their way to human ingestion by perpetually poisoning the food chain.  They haunt us to the grave, a charm of powerful trouble,  hell-broth boiled, ”devil’s piss”  in a bubble.

PFAS finds its way to human ingestion in hundreds of ways.

The US Geological Survey found a Smallmouth Bass in the Potomac near Antietam with 574,000 ppt. of PFOS and still, the state of Maryland hasn’t acted to warn women who are pregnant or may become pregnant not to eat it - and neither have D.C. or Virginia. In this regard the EPA has abandoned its mission to protect human health.

We know the chemicals in tiny concentrations affect developing organisms in animal species, including humans. What does this mean, exactly?

It means:

·        Children are vulnerable to these chemicals through placental transfer and  breastfeeding. All babies in this country are born with alarming concentrations of these chemicals in their little, delicate bodies.

·        PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS, (perfluorohexane sulfonate), all found in the Potomac, are associated with increased odds of ADHD in children.

·        Certain PFAS concentrations are associated with inattention, impulsivity/hyperactivity, and oppositional defiant disorder.

·        Maternal PFOA concentrations were associated with higher risk of obesity at 8 years of age in their offspring.

·        Mothers with high levels of PFAS in their blood were more likely to have heavier children at 20 months.

·        Increases in PFOA and PFOS are associated with increases in triglycerides in overweight children.

·        Among overweight children, both PFOA and PFOS were associated with increased insulin concentration and elevated insulin resistance.

·        Certain PFAS serum concentrations are associated with hypertension.

·        PFOS has been linked to hardening of the arteries in teenagers.

·        PFAS serum concentrations in children are associated with abnormal levels of total cholesterol.

·        Higher levels of PFOA, PFOS, PFBS, and PFHxS, all found in the river, were associated with increasing odds of childhood asthma.

·        There are positive associations between maternal plasma PFOA and PFNA and common cold incidence in the first 3 years of life.

·        There are associations between PFOA and PFHxS and gastroenteritis in children.

·        There is consistent evidence that later age menarche and delayed mammary gland development is associated with PFOA and PFOS exposure.

·        There is evidence linking PFAS to  hypothyroidism.

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.”

                                                - Song of the Witches, Macbeth, William Shakespeare

To beat a dead horse, PFOS and its derivatives are included as a priority hazardous substance under the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU, 2013), with an Environmental Quality Standard limit value of 0.65 ng/L in inland surface waters and 0.13 ng/L in seawater. The Potomac exceeds this limit by a factor of 12, excluding PFOA and the other compounds. The European Food Safety Authority says 86% of the PFAS in our bodies comes from the food we eat. That percentage may be increasing as municipal water systems around the world hurriedly install granular activated carbon systems to filter out the carcinogens. 

WUSA 9’s Disappointing Segment on PFAS

Channel 9 in Washington  aired a news story on PFAS contamination at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Southeast D.C. that might receive two thumbs up from the American Chemistry Council, the lobbying arm of American chemical manufacturers. The segment by Nathan Baca of the CBS affiliate that aired on October 7, 2021, “Fertilizer used in DC school gardens ranked highest nationwide for potentially toxic chemical” contains several inaccuracies and glaring omissions.  

I reached out to Baca, but there’s a one-way flow of information with these mega-mainstream productions, so he never responded.

For starters, the headline is terribly misleading. PFAS is not “potentially” toxic. Why are they still planting the seed of doubt in the mind of the public?

DC Water treats wastewater from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The program reported that tests conducted by the Sierra Club showed Bloom Cured Soil Conditioner produced by DC Water from sludge at its Blue Plains facility and sold in hardware stores contained high levels of PFAS.

in July, the DC Statehood Green Party sent a letter to Tommy Wells, Director of the Washington, D.C. Department of Energy & Environment, warning of unregulated PFAS contamination in the nation’s capital. The Greens cited the Sierra Club study on Bloom’s sludge. They wrote, “Our preliminary inquiry shows that PFAS are dangerous chemicals that must be regulated by the DC Government.  We call on DC authorities to conduct comprehensive testing for PFAS in DC soil, water, and fish." 

Channel 9’s Baca  interviewed D.C. Water Resource Recovery Director Chris Peot who said at the outset, "I use [the soil conditioner] in my garden at home, we grow vegetables. I feed it to my family. I love my family. I think the rewards outweigh the very, very small risks."

The program failed to report on the precise levels found by the Sierra Club. The firm SGS AXYS Analytical Services measured levels of PFAS chemicals in the soil products from  nine garden fertilizers in eight states and the District of Columbia. Bloom was the most contaminated at 223,000 ppt for all PFAS tested. Bloom’s product contained 23,800 ppt of Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 22,100 ppt of Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), two of the most toxic varieties of PFAS.

Maine sets limits on PFAS in sludge at 2,500 ppt for PFOA and 5,200 ppt for PFOS. D.C. spreads sludge on school gardens that are 9.5 times higher for PFOA and 4.25 times higher for PFOS. PFOA is believed to be more of a threat to agricultural produce, while PFOS wreaks havoc in the waterways. Sewer sludge is poisonous and we’re spreading it over school vegetable gardens, farm fields, and thousands of home gardens. The rains come and the waters drain into the aquifers and run into surface water. Both paths may ultimately lead to human consumption. PFAS never goes away.

Although Chris Peot with DC Water may be feeding vegetables grown in his garden with the PFAS-laden Bloom’s soil conditioner, they’re likely to be contaminated.

A study published in the journal Environmental Research captures what we know.

“Analysis of the literature indicates a direct correlation between PFAS concentrations in soil and bioaccumulation in plants. Furthermore, plant uptake largely changes with chain length, functional group, plant species and organ. Low accumulations of PFOA and PFOS have been found in peeled potatoes and cereal seeds, while short-chain compounds can accumulate at high levels in leafy vegetables and fruits.”

Unlike the EPA and the FDA, the German Federal Ministry of the Environment  has sounded a warning regarding the presence of PFAS in things that might be grown in Mr. Peot’s garden. It’s interesting. Apparently, there are great differences between the different plant species with regard to the incorporation of PFAS, especially in generative plant parts, e.g., flower, seed, fruit. A small transfer of PFAS into generative plant parts is found in grain maize, winter barley, winter rye, strawberries, and asparagus. A significantly stronger transfer of PFAS into the crop can be observed in wheat, triticale, and soybeans, as well as in crops where the vegetative plant parts, i.e., leaves, shoots, and roots are used, such as silage corn, forage or grass.

Toxic gardens produce toxic vegetables. Strawberries, asparagus, Cabbage, lettuce, etc. have been reported with dangerous levels of the toxins.

WUSA reported. “No studies have been done to show if the chemical used in fertilizer can pass to people’s home vegetables.” Instead, they have Peot on camera saying, "We share Sierra Club’s concern about these chemicals."

The CBS affiliate included this zinger, right out of the chemical manufacturer’s playbook, “The mystery remains. Where does D.C. Water’s unusually high amount of PFAS chemical come from? Scientists simply don’t know what the industrial source is, let alone how to stop it.”

Apparently, they’re not asking the right scientists.

The WUSA 9 report rattled off lots of things like food wrappers and carpets that contain PFAS but they failed to mention PFAS is used as a firefighting foam and in metal finishing - two applications directly linked to the military that produce astronomical levels of the toxins. These are the top culprits in solving our “mystery.” Leachate from landfills, seepage from commercial airports and other wastewater treatment plants upstream, along with a handful of industrial sites that discharge to the Potomac or directly to Blue Plains, round out our unmysterious list.

PFAS is not monitored in the influent, effluent, or sludge at Blue Plains. See: https://www.dcwater.com/pretreatment. Then, see: 2020 DC Water’s Pretreatment Annual Report (Part 1 of 2) 

The following military sites,  known to use PFAS, discharge waste to Blue Plains:

·        Andrews AFB (through Piscataway WWTP then to Blue Plains)

·        Naval Support Activity Bethesda, MD 

·        Fort Detrick - Forest Glen

·        Naval Research Lab

·        Naval Support Facility Carderock

·        Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling

DC Water ought to start examining sewer outflows at these facilities for PFAS. PFAS in a stream at the  Naval Research Laboratory - Chesapeake Bay Detachment  was recently found to increase four-fold after it flowed past the outflow of the base’s wastewater treatment plant. The drains from various buildings on base are believed to be the culprit.

DC Water ought to investigate the list of their significant industrial users, shown here:

                                               Source: D.C. Water

The Eaton Corporation, listed above, produces hoses made with PTFE (poly tetra fluoro ethylene) resin. PTFE is a kind of PFAS that is used to produce Teflon products. D.C. Water should test their sewage and the D.C. government ought to regulate it. Same thing with TTM Technologies, which also uses PTFE in manufacturing.

These entities shown above are likely suspects:

·        Adelphi Laboratory Center - Army facility
·        ATK Space Systems - Defense contractor
·        Bureau of Engraving & Printing  Federal Government
·        Mid-Atlantic Finishing, Inc - Defense contractor
·        University of MD/DOD Physical Sciences Lab - Military

D.C. Water said it will continue to sell its Bloom Cured Soil Conditioner to the public, but at the same time supporting new studies that identify the locations draining into the Potomac River that are causing the contamination.  They know more than they’re letting on.