1st lab to check for PFAS in consuming water opens in Maine
The primary laboratory authorised to check consuming water for poisonous “eternally chemical compounds” has opened in Maine, with an intention to cut back the period of time individuals are at the moment ready for outcomes.
Maine Laboratories LLC, positioned within the Somerset County city of Norridgewock, acquired its accreditation from the Maine Laboratory Accreditation Program to research consuming water for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, on Friday, mentioned Lindsay Hammes, the communications director for the Maine Middle for Illness Management and Prevention.
Along with testing for PFAS in public water techniques and personal wells, the lab may also take a look at wastewater, sludge, landfill leachate, soil, animal tissue, milk and different substances, mentioned Katie Richards, the CEO of Maine Laboratories.
If shoppers want non-standard objects examined for PFAS, they need to name the lab, and “we’d simply determine what it might take to get it finished,” Richards mentioned.
“Our hope and the complete purpose we opened is we’d like to have the ability to take a piece out of the PFAS testing backlog,” she mentioned.
PFAS are a category of chemical compounds used to make merchandise proof against water, grease and warmth, and so they construct up in our bodies and the surroundings over time. Research are ongoing, however some have linked sure compounds to kidney most cancers, testicular most cancers, excessive ldl cholesterol, decreased response to vaccines, fetal issues and different well being issues.
The chemical compounds seeped into wells when farmers, beneath state approval, unfold sludge from native wastewater remedy crops on fields as fertilizer. The chemical compounds are additionally in wastewater, which is discharged into rivers that typically assist feed consuming water techniques downstream.
Folks could at the moment wait a month — or longer, relying on the request — for PFAS take a look at outcomes from labs going through excessive demand from companies and farmers, consuming water and wastewater amenities, governments and people.
Maine Laboratories’ customary turnaround time is about two weeks, Richards mentioned. Prices for checks vary from $285 to $425.
Maine Laboratories was based by Richards and her husband, Chris Richards.
Katie Richards grew up on a small farm in Belmont, she mentioned, and holds a Grasp of Enterprise Administration diploma from the College of Kentucky. Chris Richards graduated from Skowhegan Space Excessive Faculty and acquired his doctorate in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Know-how.
He now splits his time between Kentucky, the place he’s a chemistry professor on the College of Kentucky, and Norridgewock.
Maine Laboratories has one worker at the moment conducting testing. It plans to develop with demand, Katie Richards mentioned.
