[S]tate officials announced Thursday that multiple brands of generic bottled water sold in-state have PFAS levels more than five times above Vermont’s new standard.
The announcement comes less than a week after the state notified all public drinking water suppliers that they need to test for the toxins by the end of this year.
During a test of a random sample of bottled water, New Hampshire state officials found PFAS levels ranging between 120 and 137 parts per trillion — over five times higher than Vermont’s newly adopted drinking water standard — in bottled water that came from a spring in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
The company that owns the spring, Spring Hill Dairy, provides bottled water under store-brand labels at Shaw’s, Cumberland Farms, CVS (Ice Canyon), Best Yet, 365, IGA, HyTop and Food Club.
Studies have shown that exposure to certain PFAS chemicals can increase the risk of cancer, hormone disruption, immune system damage, developmental problems in children and increased cholesterol. The likelihood of adverse health effects relates to the amount of the concentration of PFAS as well as time period of exposure.
State officials say Vermonters should avoid drinking bottled water dated before July 24 from those brands. Peter Walke, deputy secretary of the state Agency of Natural Resources, said the state has been working with Spring Hill Dairy and distributors to remove the potentially contaminated water off shelves.
“We are getting confirmation of the exact timeline, but from what we’ve heard so far, many of the distributors have already removed it from their shelves,” he said.
The company has now installed a treatment system to remove PFAS at the spring, and the state is awaiting PFAS samples from the treated water.
Vermont passed a law, Act 21, this session setting interim drinking water standards for five PFAS compounds at a combined 20 parts per trillion – among the lowest in the country. The same standard applies to drinking water whether it’s bottled or from a public water supply.
“Obviously for most Vermonters, bottled water isn’t their primary water consumption, but it … could potentially be somebody’s primary source of drinking water,” said Walke. “And we want to make sure that all Vermonters are protected by the same standards.”
When asked whether the state would be pursuing enforcement action against the company, Walke said that the state’s “primary interest” was ensuring that Vermonters are drinking uncontaminated water.
“The company has already taken action to address their source and installed treatment,” he said.
Under Act 21, ANR had to come up with a plan for statewide PFAS sampling. The state will test PFAS levels at Vermont’s five in-state bottle suppliers by this December.
The state has not “yet resolved” how to ensure water from other out-of-state suppliers does not have elevated PFAS levels, said Walke.
“This is something that we would like to work closely with other state colleagues to make sure that we come up with a consistent platform for everybody to work with,” he said, “because it is potentially a very large topic and a new one for many of these bottled water suppliers. But ultimately, we need to make sure public health is protected.”
