BDN interviews MacRae about PFAS in Penobscot County drinking water
The Bangor Daily News spoke to Jean MacRae, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maine, about PFAS in Penobscot County drinking water. Though most water districts in Penobscot County are not finding “forever chemicals” in their drinking water supplies, laboratories can’t entirely rule out their presence. MacRae said many things can interfere with laboratories getting an accurate result at such low levels. PFAS might be in the air when someone opens a vial to collect a sample, making the result appear greater than it really is, or PFAS that is actually in the water might bind to other particles and get filtered out, making the result appear lower than it really is. “It’s good news, because it’s fairly low even in the ones where there has been some detection. But obviously none is better than some, and that’s clear from the [Environmental Protection Agency’s] health advisory numbers,” MacRae said. The Piscataquis Observer shared the BDN report.