Study: Foam on lakes and rivers in Wisconsin has PFAS concentrations up to 7,000 times higher than surface water
On windy days when lakes are choppy or on rivers near dams that churn over a lot of water, you may have noticed foam start to build up along the shores.
It’s a naturally occurring process.
What’s not natural is the excessive amounts of PFAS that’s being found in that foam.
Christy Remucal is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UW Madison.
She’s also the author of a recently published study that found PFAS levels in foam can be thousands of times greater than what was in the surface water of the lakes and rivers that produced the foam.
“Depending on which PFAS chemical we're talking about, the concentrations and foam were 50 to 7000 times higher compared to in the water,” said Remucal.
This was true even for water bodies that had relatively low levels of PFAS.
The study looked at 36 types of PFAS chemicals in 43 Wisconsin lakes and rivers.
The highest PFOS concentrations they measured in foam was in Lake Mendota in Madison with almost 300,000 parts per trillion. For comparison, the federal drinking water regulation is 4 parts per trillion.
Remucal says similar studies in Michigan have also found excess levels of PFAS in foam.
She says this study reinforces the Wisconsin DNR’s recommendation to avoid foam when you see it.
“If you do come in contact with foam, you should wash your hands, especially before eating or drinking, and it's a good idea to keep your pets out of the foam as well as your kids. Keep them from playing in the foam,” she said.
Remucal says other researchers are trying a remediation strategy the involves purposely generating foam to try and concentrate PFAS for further treatment that could eventually lead to cleanup in some cases.
One of her next research projects is focused on how PFAS accumulates in ice.
Increased exposure to PFAS can lead to health issues like increases in cholesterol, lower antibody response to some vaccines, and kidney and testicular cancer.