Are there 'forever chemicals' in your drinking water?

0:00You're listening to LifeKit from NPR.

0:05Hey, it's Marielle.

0:06I want you to look around your home.

0:08Do you have a nonstick frying pan?

0:10A raincoat?

0:11Dental floss designed to slide easily between your teeth?

0:15All of these items have something in common.

0:17They often contain man-made chemicals called PFAS.

0:21That stands for PER and Polyfloral Alkyl Substances.

0:25They're in a lot of stuff that we as humans really like, like nonstick pans that are really great for frying eggs or raincoats that keep you really dry.

0:34But the same qualities that make them useful also make them really difficult to break down, so they can stick around for a long time in our bodies and the environment.

0:44New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Mara Hoplimazian has spent years reporting on PFAS, which are also known as forever chemicals.

0:51One reason for that nickname is that they're super strong, in part because one of the things that unites this whole group of chemicals is that they have a bond between a fluorine atom and a carbon atom, which is the strongest single bond in organic chemistry.