Scientists are still studying how PFAS affect people’s health. Some PFAS can build up in people’s bodies and, over time, may cause harmful health effects. Higher exposure to certain PFAS may lead to:

• Increased cholesterol levels
• Changes in liver enzymes that indicate liver damage
• Decreased immune response to vaccines in children
• Increased risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy
• Decreased birth weights
• Increased risk of thyroid disease
• Increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer

Children ages 0-5 years, and people who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding are more vulnerable to health impacts from these chemicals.

Scientists are still learning about the health effects of exposures to mixtures of PFAS.

If you have questions or concerns about your health, contact your health care provider. 

People can be exposed to PFAS in drinking water, food, indoor dust, some consumer products, and workplaces. Most exposures that do not happen at work occur by drinking contaminated water or eating food that contains PFAS.

Although some types of PFAS are no longer used, some products may still contain PFAS:

• Food packaging materials
• Nonstick cookware
• Stain resistant carpet treatments
• Water resistant clothing
• Cleaning products
• Paints, varnishes and sealants
• Firefighting foam
• Some cosmetics

• Limit drinking water or eating food that contains PFAS. At-home water treatment systems filter contaminants out of water and can help reduce your exposure to PFAS in household tap water used for drinking and cooking. PFAS point-of-use filters are used at the main source for drinking water, such as a kitchen sink.
• Reduce use of products that contain PFAS. Find PFAS-free consumer products.
• Follow any drinking water advisories issued by your water system or local government.
• Follow local fish advisories.

Watch for more on reducing your exposure to PFAS.

You cannot boil water to remove PFAS. However, showering, bathing, doing laundry and washing dishes are okay because they are not meaningful sources of PFAS exposure.

If there are PFAS above recommended limits in your drinking water, you can reduce your exposure by installing a water filter that reduces PFAS or by using an alternate source of water for cooking, drinking, and preparing infant formula. This is especially important for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and formula-fed infants, as these groups are in life stages when they may be especially sensitive to harmful health effects of PFAS

Some water filters that attach to the faucet or go under the sink can help reduce your exposure to PFAS in household tap water used for drinking and cooking. But not all filters reduce PFAS.

To learn more about water treatment options and finding filter products that remove PFAS:

• Home water treatment for PFAS (Spanish) (Russian) (Ukrainian) (Vietnamese)
• PFAS Point-of-use filter options
• Video: How to select a point-of-use water filter or bottled water

Use of water filters requires ongoing maintenance and testing to ensure they are effectively removing PFAS. When selecting a filter product, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for filter replacement and care. 

Public Health does not recommend people make their own water filters for PFAS. Water filters for drinking water treatment should meet the NSF/ANSI 61: Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects standard. The standard certifies that the chemicals and materials used to treat drinking water are safe and will not produce negative health effects. Choosing uncertified materials could add unknown contaminants to the drinking water during the water filtration process.  

To learn more about water treatment options and finding filter products that remove PFAS:

• Home water treatment for PFAS (Spanish) (Russian) (Tagalog) (Ukrainian) (Vietnamese)
• PFAS Point-of-use filter options
• Video: How to select a point-of-use water filter or bottled water

Bottled water can be a good short-term solution until a filter or other solution is in place. For long-term use, bottled water is not as regulated as tap water for many other contaminants and usually ends up costing more than installing and maintaining a filter. Compared to tap water, bottled water also has higher environmental impacts linked to trucking the bottled water to market and making and disposing the plastic bottles.

PFAS have been found in some brands of bottled water. If you use bottled water as an alternate water source, look for brands that have been purified with water filtration.

To learn more about bottled water as an alternative:

• Video: How to select a point-of-use water filter or bottled water

If PFAS are above health advisory levels in your drinking water, Washington State Department of Health recommends installing a filter or switching to an alternative source of drinking water and continue to breastfeed your baby. In Washington state, state action levels were set specifically to protect breastfed infants.

The American Academy of Pediatrics states that: “even though some environmental contaminants like PFAS pollutants pass to the infant through breast milk, the advantages of breastfeeding greatly outweigh the potential risks in nearly every circumstance.”

Talk to your health care provider if you have concerns about PFAS and breastfeeding.

If PFAS are above recommended limits in your tap water, Washington State Department of Health recommends installing a filter or switching to an alternative source of water to mix infant formula.

If you have questions or concerns about exposures to PFAS and your health, contact your health care provider.

If you choose to have your blood tested, test results will tell you how much of each PFAS is in your blood, but it is unclear what the results mean in terms of possible health effects.

Test results cannot measure your PFAS exposure from a specific source, such as drinking water. Instead, the test measures total exposure to these chemicals from all sources.

The blood test will not provide information to pinpoint a health problem, and it will not provide information for treatment. The blood test results will also not predict or rule out the development of future health problems related to a PFAS exposure.

Yes. In 2021, the Washington State Board of Health adopted state action levels for five PFAS (see table below). A state action level (SAL) is a level that is set to protect human health and is based on the best available science at the time. 

The state rule requires public water systems to test for PFAS in drinking water by December 2025. If PFAS are detected, the water systems are required to notify their customers and do follow-up testing. Results are also shared on the state Department of Health’s PFAS testing results dashboard.  

The SALs were adopted prior to the Environmental Protection Agency issuing its final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, which set the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFAS in drinking water. The federal MCLs are mostly lower than Washington state’s SALs, meaning the federal regulations are more stringent and protective to human health.

The Washington SALs will continue to be in place until the Washington State Board of Health adopts the new federal levels, which can take up to two years.

Yes. In April 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, which set the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for six PFAS in drinking water (see table below). 

The EPA also finalized health-based, non-enforceable maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) for these PFAS. The goals are the levels of contaminants in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. The MCLs are set as close to the goals as feasible using the best available treatment technology and taking cost into consideration.

The final rule requires public water systems to monitor for the six PFAS, and if levels exceed the MCL, water systems are required to implement solutions to reduce the level of PFAS in drinking water. Water systems are also required to report results to their customers in their annual water quality reports.

More information is available in the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation fact sheet.

People who receive water from a public water system can contact the system to determine if they’ve detected PFAS, and if so, what steps they are taking to treat or remove PFAS.

Public Health continues to work with local public water systems, the Washington Department of Health and Department of Ecology to determine if there are significant sources of PFAS contamination in Clark County drinking water sources. If major sources of PFAS are discovered, Public Health will work with these agencies to determine the appropriate next steps and provide information to the public.