Fighting Forever Chemicals

Policy advocates, scientists, and entrepreneurs tackling PFAs in northern Michigan

By Ren Brabenec | April 5, 2025

No state is completely safe from pollution-related health risks. However, Michigan, surrounded by water and boasting some 11,000 inland lakes, thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and hundreds of billions of gallons of groundwater, is unique in its risk factors.

That’s why testing for, cleaning up, and eventually halting the spread of PFAs is a high-profile mission for residents.

What are PFAs?

“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) are man-made chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. We often refer to them as forever chemicals, because they do not occur naturally and are typically formed by the combination of fluorine and carbon, two chemicals that, once formed, essentially never break down.”

That’s from Heather Smith, a scientist and Waterkeeper at The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. She says PFAs are one of the primary concerns among her group of 300 Waterkeepers.

According to Smith, though PFAs have been in our environment for over 75 years, it’s only been recently that public health scientists have uncovered the environmental and biological threats posed by them.

“There are thousands of different types of PFAs,” Smith says. “Some are believed to be carcinogenic. Others have been linked to low birth weight, immune system issues, reduced fertility, developmental issues, cancers, hormone disruption, elevated cholesterol, endocrine disruption, kidney and liver disease, and problems with cell metabolism.”

Smith explains that the people most at risk for PFA-related harm are children, pregnant women, and those who live and work in or near sites that have high concentrations of PFAs. Answering the next obvious question, Smith says yes: PFAs have been detected in water and soil samples in counties across northern Michigan.

Where Are We Finding PFAs?

Corporations like 3M and DuPont invented PFA chemicals because they repel water. Today, PFAs are found in products like grocery store food packaging, fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, nonstick cooking products, polishes, waxes, stain-resistant and water-resistant fabrics, cleaning products, fire-fighting foam, waterproofing sprays, automobile parts, and in upholstery and fabrics treated with flame-retardants. Outdoor gear like tents, raincoats, and footwear are often made with PFAs.

But if PFAs are primarily found in consumer goods, how are the chemicals polluting Michigan’s water and soil?

“When the products are manufactured, PFAs are sometimes released into the environment,” says Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director of For Love of Water (FLOW). “Michigan’s history as an industrial state combined with our numerous waterways and high-percolation soil—both of which allows PFAs to travel easily—all mean we have a high risk for PFAs contamination.”

Kirkwood points out that it’s not just the places where PFAs are manufactured that become contaminated; it’s also where PFAs-containing products are used. “As testing advances, we’ve documented a growing number of PFAs plumes in Michigan, high-concentration areas of contamination,” she says.

Kirkwood identified airports, military bases, manufacturing facilities, unlined landfills, and farm fields as sites that often test positive for high contamination levels.

To drive the point home, Kirkwood pulls up a press release dated Jan. 16, 2025, from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). She reads the headline aloud. “Michigan PFAs Action Response Team (MPART) lists 300th contamination site.”

That site, the Nankin Township Landfill in Wayne County, received waste from 3M and other companies during the period the area was used as a landfill from the 1940s until the early 1960s.

Kirkwood notes that even though the landfill was active 60-85 years ago, the site’s groundwater, surface water, and soil were still contaminated at 80 parts per trillion, results far exceeding the state’s safety standards.

“Publicly, it’s only been within the last few years that we’ve all been made aware of the environmental and human health harm posed by PFAs,” Kirkwood explains. “But the failure of chemical manufacturers to disclose the risks of contamination and severe public and environmental hazards is not a new story. What’s new with PFAs is its unparalleled and unprecedented scope and impact on the planet and all living creatures.”

Kirkwood says that PFAs contamination is found almost everywhere on the planet, including remote regions from Antarctica to the Mariana Trench.

“These forever chemicals are picked up as part of the water cycle and return as rain in places like Miami, Florida,” she continues. “And most disturbingly, nearly every American has PFAs in their blood, according to the CDC. To live in a healthy society, all businesses and individuals must be held accountable for their actions and apply the precautionary principles before they put products into commerce with known human health risks. To live otherwise, we risk our future.”

How Do We Test for PFAs?

While FLOW, The Watershed Center, and other community-led organizations are lobbying for the return of polluter pay laws to make corporations clean up PFAs-contaminated sites, entrepreneurs are leveraging their skills in other ways.

Scientist Vernon LaLone, a Traverse City resident, won national recognition in 2024 when his tech start-up, Wave Lumina, took home second place at that year’s AquaAction Aquahacking challenge. Vernon launched Wave Lumina with a simple mission, to, as LaLone says, “Develop portable field sensor technology for environmental professionals to rapidly measure environmental pollution, including highly toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) ‘forever chemicals’ on-site.”

According to LaLone, the first step to addressing PFAs is to test for contamination.

“Currently, the gold standard for PFAs testing is to utilize a $500,000 to $900,000 machine that also requires the use of an entire lab,” he says. “Wave Lumina’s goal is to eliminate the testing bottleneck by innovating a field testing device that is affordable, easily usable by anyone, and that can produce test results while one is still out in the field. No lab required, and no waiting period.”

LaLone says his team has already produced a working prototype, with plans for a finished device available for purchase as early as the fall of 2025. “Our Contamination Field Screening Device (CFSD) empowers environmental professionals to screen for pollution on-site and make decisions faster, thereby expediting and lowering costs for remediation efforts.”

LaLone envisions his device being used by anyone from environmental professionals to scientists, teachers, health department workers, and homeowners.

Those who want to test their drinking water, soil, or favorite local swimming hole right away can call the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Drinking Water Hotline at (844) 934-1315. Under some circumstances, the MDHHS will test residents’ water for free. If that’s not an option, MPART connects concerned residents with laboratories that offer testing. Visit michigan.gov/en/PFAsresponse/drinking-water/laboratories for more information.

How Do We Remove PFAs?

Removing PFA contamination, especially concentrated “plume” sites, is much more complicated than testing for contamination.

Because PFA chemicals repel water, they tend to move through water and spread across a watershed region extremely quickly. They do not break down on their own, meaning they “bioaccumulate” in living organisms, harming wildlife and humans.

According to LaLone, there have been some promising innovations in eradicating PFAs, though many are still in the testing phase. One of the best and furthest-along methods is delivered by a Michigan-based company called Enspired Solutions, which utilizes UV light and proprietary chemistry to destroy PFAs by breaking the carbon-fluorine bonds.

“Electro-oxidation, pressure combined with alkaline conditions, activated carbon,” LaLone ticks these off on his fingers. “There are ways to clean-up and destroy PFAs safely, but, like testing, we’re still working on ways to reduce bottlenecks and make these technologies broadly available and easily implemented.”

What Can We Do at Home?

Michiganders can take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones from PFAs.

The first step is to reduce exposure, which people can do by testing their water supply, by adding carbon filters to faucets, and by avoiding plastic water bottles.

The next step is to minimize contact with contaminated products by removing nonstick cookware and not handling food packaging and personal care products made with PFAs. The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database is a helpful tool for finding care products that don’t have PFAs in them. Visit ewg.org/skindeep for more information.

Another step is to be cautious about consuming fish and wildlife and to check the latest Michigan DNR recommendations regarding fish advisories and potentially contaminated animal populations.

Finally, in a universal sentiment shared by Smith, Kirkwood, and LaLone, residents should get informed and involved, as the Great Lakes State has quickly become a leader in the nation regarding citizen-led activism on tackling PFAs pollution.

“There is no substitute for informed, activated citizens,” Kirkwood says. “Join the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team if you’re looking for a way to get involved. Citizen-led policy advocacy alone led to a seminal 2021 Executive Order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that directed the state to no longer purchase products that contained PFAs. That landmark moment was a sign that we can overcome this critical problem.”