Recent events have left many who are concerned about the future of the Earth dismayed. While we at Clean Water Action share those feelings, these events also make us all the more committed to standing up for the environment and our democracy. As we round out 2024, the Toxics Program wanted to share some of our top victories and a quick look ahead with our members. Please be assured that you are part of these achievements. We can’t do our work without your support, so this comes with our thanks and our hope that you’ll continue to be part of California’s Clean Water Action family.
Six and a half million more Californians are having their water tested for PFAS!
Based on data collected from large and mid-sized water systems, we know that at least 25 million Californians have one or more PFAS in their water supplies. However, that doesn’t account for the thousands of small water systems serving towns, mobile home parks, or schools. Unfortunately PFAS testing is extremely expensive. That’s where we stepped in. After helping procure $15 million in the state budget, Clean Water Action staff reached out to small, often disadvantaged water systems around the state, and helped them to sign up for free PFAS testing.
The small system monitoring project is groundbreaking. While there are an estimated 15,000 PFAS in this chemical family, usual water testing methods only allow us to identify 25 of them. However, in addition to that testing, this project will also test for “total organic fluorine” in some systems, providing water regulators and the public with a more accurate picture of the real amount PFAS in California water, not just those we can name. That information will be essential in helping water systems and the state make the best decisions to protect the public.
To date, 937 out of 3,664 small system wells have been sampled and the data is starting to be analyzed. As that information comes in, the systems are being notified if they do or do not have PFAS and what consumers can do. This is a great step forward and we are excited to report the ultimate findings in 2025.
More enforcement on PFAS coming our way
In previous years, Clean Water Action co-sponsored successful bills banning PFAS in food packaging and textiles and we supported others banning the chemicals in juvenile products. In 2024 we worked with Assemblymember Phil Ting (San Francisco) on AB 34, creating an enforcement mechanism to ensure that California’s PFAS bans are working. This important bill will allow the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to test juvenile products, textile articles, and food packaging for PFAS and assess penalties if the product is out of compliance with the bans. A similar enforcement mechanism was also included in another CWA supported bill, AB 2515 (Papan), which bans PFAS in menstrual products.
Given California’s current budget crisis, Clean Water Action and our allies did not get far with a bill to ban PFAS for all unnecessary uses. However, this is still our ultimate goal and we are working closely with DTSC, state legislative staff, fellow environmental and health advocates, and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies to continue to restrict PFAS in products sold in this state and move us toward that larger ban.
Why are California communities considering bans of artificial turf?
Once seen as a way to save water, artificial or synthetic turf has turned into a serious environmental and public safety issue. In 2023, Governor Newsom signed a bill allowing municipalities to ban these surfaces, overturning a Brown Administration prohibition. Since then, several jurisdictions such as Millbrae in San Mateo County and San Marino in Los Angeles County have banned artificial turf on public land. Others around the state, including Los Angeles and Santa Clara County, are considering similar bans. Why? In many cases, artificial turf is used on playing fields, but instead of supporting good health, it’s causing environmental harm, exposures to toxic chemicals, and higher rates of injury.
There are numerous reasons why continued use of artificial turf is unsustainable, and even unsafe:
- Artificial turf contains numerous toxic chemicals in both the grass-like top and the crumb rubber (often made of old tires) beneath. These include, but are not limited to, lead, benzene, toluene, BPA, PCBs, and PFAS. Such chemicals can be associated with a wide range of health issues, including cancer, reproductive problems, and endocrine disruption.
- Artificial turf is also water intensive as it requires regular cleaning and disinfecting (more chemicals!) to maintain and the toxic chemicals leach into drinking water supplies. Consequently there is NO WATER SAVING ADVANTAGE to synthetic surfaces.
- These surfaces contribute tons of microplastic pollution to soil, the air, and water.
- Artificial turf must be replaced after several years is hard to recycle, creating tons of toxic waste.
- Temperatures on artificial turf have been measured at 40-70 degrees higher than on natural surfaces, posing a real threat of heat stroke to athletes playing in summer, as well as contributing to global warming.
- Studies demonstrate that artificial turf can lead to more injuries and infections than grass or other natural surfaces. This is the reason the NFL Players Association has advocated the return to grass, while baseball has already made the switch. Even some soccer players are calling for safer, more natural fields.
Is your community considering an artificial turf ban? If so, let us know! We are anxious to help both our environment and our people stay safe from the harm these surfaces cause.
Did you catch us in the news?
Clean Water Action has been featured in numerous news stories throughout the year. In two of those articles, we called out our state and regional water regulators for not putting public health and safety first when it comes to drinking water regulations and cleanup.
Legislative and Policy Director Andria Ventura worked for three years to get a story published about the failure of the State Water Board to fully protect consumers’ drinking water: https://truthout.org/articles/california-drinking-water-regulations-are-putting-cost-over-peoples-safety/
Ventura also consulted with Cal Matters on this story about the effects of pollution in the San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay on low income communities and communities of color: https://www.mv-voice.com/calmatters/2024/10/08/dirty-delta-californias-largest-estuary-is-in-crisis-is-the-state-discriminating-against-people-who-fish-there
In addition, our work on PFAS was highlighted on an episode of Go Green Radio, where Legislative and Policy Director Andria Ventura and our ally, Dr. Anna Reade from NRDC talked about the need to ban the chemicals for all unnecessary uses: https://www.va-test.com/episode/150076/encore-phasing-out-unnecessary-pfas-in-california
PFAS Resources: