Hi, this is Ira Flato, and you're listening to Science Friday.

Nearly every one of us has some type of PFS, commonly known as forever chemicals in their blood.

These chemicals are found in non-stick pan coatings, waterproof materials, and firefighting foam.

Roughly two years ago, the EPA adopted federal regulations for PFSAs levels in drinking

water, though last year the Trump administration rolled back some of those regulations.

But back in 2018, New Jersey was the first state to adopt its own drinking water standards for PFS.

And now 10 years later, researchers at Rutgers University have crunched the data to see how well it worked.

Joining me now to tell us more is the lead author of the study, Dr. Hari Ayer, Assistant Professor of Cancer Epidemiology and Health

Outcomes at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Welcome to

Science Friday. Thanks so much, Ira. It's so great to be here. Nice to have you. Okay, let's jump right in.

What did you find in this study?

We're so excited to present these results of a evaluation of state policies to reduce PFS levels in drinking water.

And we found a 55% reduction in average concentrations after the policy was implemented.

Wow. Is that a surprising study? I mean, that's pretty big drop.

So it's interesting you asked that. Our government colleagues were not surprised.

They said, you know, Harry, we know when we put these policies in place, we expect to see a drop.

That's why we do them. But I think we were excited to see this because

in public health, often our message is, you know, this thing is bad for you. This disease is becoming

more prevalent. But here we were actually able to demonstrate a positive impact of a regulation. So would you describe the

PFAS in the water now at a safe level in New Jersey? So we definitely have observed levels that

are below the maximum contaminant levels they're called, these regulatory limits. But I think that there's a,

there's another part of this story, which is the ongoing evolution of our understanding of the

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