PFAS in Oklahoma Water: What Are Forever Chemicals?

PFAS. Four letters that keep showing up in water quality discussions, news headlines, and government memos. Also called "forever chemicals" — and they earned that nickname the hard way.

Most environmental contaminants eventually break down. Bacteria die. Chemicals degrade. Nature processes things, slowly but eventually. PFAS don't play by those rules. They persist in the environment indefinitely, accumulate in your body over a lifetime, and resist every natural degradation process we know of.

As someone who spent years in healthcare watching the medical community repeatedly discover that "safe levels" of various substances weren't actually safe, the PFAS story has a familiar rhythm. We made something incredibly useful, put it everywhere, and then — decades later — started connecting dots nobody was looking for.

Let me cut through the noise and give you what you actually need to know as an Oklahoma resident.

What PFAS Actually Are

PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemistry matters because it explains why they're "forever": these compounds are built around carbon-fluorine bonds — one of the strongest bonds in organic chemistry. Nothing in nature efficiently breaks that bond. Not sunlight. Not soil bacteria. Not wastewater treatment. Not your liver.

That's what makes them so useful and so problematic. The same chemical stability that makes your rain jacket waterproof and your nonstick pan nonstick also means these compounds accumulate in everything they touch — including you.

Where They Come From

PFAS didn't sneak into your environment. We put them there deliberately, because they work incredibly well at what they do:

• Firefighting foam (AFFF) — Military bases and airports used PFAS-based foam extensively for decades. This is the single largest source of groundwater contamination in Oklahoma. When that foam hit the ground during training exercises and actual emergencies, the PFAS soaked into the soil and migrated to aquifers.
• Nonstick cookware — Teflon and its cousins. The coating that makes eggs slide off the pan is a PFAS compound.
• Water-resistant products — Your waterproof hiking boots, stain-resistant couch fabric, grease-proof food packaging — all PFAS applications.
• Industrial manufacturing — Chrome plating, electronics manufacturing, and various industrial processes use PFAS.
• Wastewater discharge — Conventional treatment plants can't remove PFAS. What goes in comes out the other side.

How They Reach Your Water

PFAS enter groundwater primarily through firefighting foam use, industrial discharge, and landfill leachate. Once in the aquifer, they don't degrade. They don't settle. They just spread — slowly, persistently, indefinitely — showing up in wells and municipal water supplies that nobody thought to test until recently.

That's the pattern with forever chemicals: the contamination started decades ago, but we're only now developing the testing technology and regulatory framework to detect and address it.

Why They Matter for Your Health

The health concern with PFAS isn't dramatic, acute poisoning. It's cumulative exposure over years and decades. Because your body can't break these chemicals down efficiently, every sip adds to a growing body burden that never really decreases.

"PFAS don't give you symptoms tomorrow. They give you risk over decades. The challenge is that by the time the health effects emerge, the exposure has been happening for years — and you can't un-drink the water you've already consumed."

Health Concern	Evidence Level
Certain cancers (kidney, testicular)	Strong association in epidemiological studies
Thyroid disease	Strong association
Immune system effects	Strong association — including reduced vaccine effectiveness
Pregnancy complications	Moderate association (preeclampsia, low birth weight)
High cholesterol	Strong association
Developmental effects in children	Research ongoing — early results concerning

The immune system findings are particularly notable. Research suggests PFAS exposure can reduce vaccine response — meaning your immune system may not build as strong a defense even when you get vaccinated. In a post-pandemic world, that finding carries extra weight.

The New EPA Standards

In April 2024, the EPA established the first-ever legally enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water. This was a watershed moment — prior to this, the only guidance was a non-enforceable "health advisory."

The new limits:

• PFOA: 4 parts per trillion (ppt)
• PFOS: 4 parts per trillion (ppt)
• PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX): 10 ppt each
• PFAS mixtures: Regulated via a hazard index approach

To put "parts per trillion" in perspective: detecting 4 parts per trillion is like finding four specific grains of sand on a beach that stretches for twenty miles. These are extraordinarily low limits — a reflection of just how potent these compounds are at causing harm. The previous health advisory of 70 ppt was seventeen times higher. The science moved, and the regulations finally followed.

Oklahoma's Specific Situation

Oklahoma isn't generic flyover country when it comes to PFAS risk. We have specific, documented contamination sources:

Should You Test?

Not every Oklahoma household needs PFAS testing. Here's how I think about it:

Strong case for testing:

• Private well within several miles of a military base or airport (especially Tinker AFB)
• Private well near industrial facilities, manufacturing plants, or landfills
• Buying property and want baseline data before committing
• Health concerns that could be PFAS-related (thyroid issues, unexplained cholesterol elevation)
• Your public water system has reported PFAS detections and you want confirmation at the tap

Lower priority:

• On municipal water with no reported PFAS detections
• Private well far from known contamination sources
• Already using reverse osmosis filtration at the tap

The testing isn't free — PFAS analysis requires specialized laboratory methods that cost more than standard water panels. But if you're in a high-risk category, the cost of testing is insignificant compared to the cost of not knowing.

What If Testing Reveals PFAS?

PFAS contamination is unlike most other water quality issues because you can't fix it at the source. The chemicals persist in groundwater indefinitely. There's no remediation equivalent to shocking a well for bacteria or replacing a lead service line. Treatment happens at the point of use — your kitchen faucet.

Effective Filtration

• Reverse osmosis (RO) — Highly effective for most PFAS compounds. Under-sink RO systems are the gold standard for point-of-use treatment.
• Activated carbon filters — Granular activated carbon (GAC) reduces many PFAS compounds, though effectiveness varies by specific compound. Look for NSF P473 certification.
• Ion exchange systems — Effective for many PFAS, though typically used in whole-house applications.

What doesn't work: Standard pitcher filters, boiling, and UV treatment do not remove PFAS. Don't assume your existing filtration handles them — check the certification specifically for PFAS or look for NSF P473.

For Severe Contamination

In cases where PFAS levels significantly exceed the new standards, bottled water or connecting to an alternative water supply may be necessary while longer-term solutions are implemented.

My Take

PFAS is still an emerging story. The science is advancing rapidly. Testing technology is improving. Standards just got dramatically stricter. And public awareness is growing — which means pressure on contamination sources to address the problem is increasing too.

For most Oklahoma homeowners on municipal water, your utility will be testing and reporting per the new EPA requirements. You'll see the data in your annual Consumer Confidence Report. That's the system working as intended.

For private well owners — particularly those near Tinker AFB, other military installations, airports, or industrial facilities — proactive testing gives you information to act on. You can't taste PFAS. You can't see them. You can't smell them. They leave no stains on your fixtures and no residue in your glass. They're invisible until you run the numbers.

I don't sell filtration systems. I don't have a product line of PFAS solutions. I test water, deliver results, and explain what they mean. What you do with the information is your decision — but at least you'll be making it with data instead of assumptions.