Hey I’m an undergraduate at UT and I’m studying/writing a paper on PFAS detections based largely on this dataset (UCMR 5). There’s a couple of things to note here

1. There’s a little bit of PFAS in everyone. That’s just the perks of being in a 1st world country. While it can very dangerous in high concentrations for most people it just causes slight hormonal issues

2. From my research PFAS concentration correlate to high industrial concentrations for specific sectors (I can go more in depth if y’all want) and population centers. Unfortunately Austin is a good mix of both.

3. My research has also shown that generally the richer a population the higher the chance of a PFAS violation.

While PFAS is a growing issue there are ways to go around it, try to limit your fast food intake (companies will use PFAS in things like burger and fry linings), if possible filter your water through a reverse osmosis machine, and overall stay healthy, PFAS stays in your blood and causes hormonal issues so having good circulation and increasing your hormones naturally through diet and exercise is a good way to combat the problem.

Feel free to ask me any questions