BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 26, 2023
Bangor recently volunteered to be the first community in Maine to participate in an effort with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to investigate the origins of PFAS chemicals in wastewater, beginning this summer. PFAS are detectable in effluent from every wastewater facility, which “is an indication of the prevalence of PFAS in our society,” David Madore, deputy commissioner of the Maine DEP said. The ecological risk from PFAS is more unknown. The Interstate Technology Regulatory Council explains how “little is known about whether or how these exposures are translating into adverse effects in wildlife,” but that “even extremely low or undetectable concentrations of PFAS in the environment may present potential health risks to organisms.” See PFAS test results on the BDN website.