MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 29, 2022
PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are used in water- and stain-resistant products and have been linked to cancer. The chemicals have been detected in fields in the central Maine towns of Fairfield and Oakland, where farmers unknowingly used sludge for fertilizer that contained PFAS. Since then, the state has found the chemicals in deer killed by hunters, and, more recently, in fish in seven water bodies that were tested around the state. The state's recent advisory about high levels of the 'forever chemicals' found in fish has anglers worried – even if most don't eat their catch.