We’re very aware of PFAS chemicals. (AKA PFOA’s) We’ve researched them for years.
Why? Because we sell many of our UltraStream water filters in America. We know where they occur, what caused them, and how to get rid of them… but I’m guessing the last point is all that matters to you.
If you didn’t see the Sydney Morning Herald (or, I assume, its sister publication, The Melbourne Age) last Saturday, you missed the biggest news in the struggle for healthy water since the massive blue-green algae outbreak in Sydney 15 years ago. It’s all about the ‘new’ nasty, called PFOAs or PFAs.
It seems to us that if we have the answer for the poor souls affected by this nasty, nasty family of chemicals, we should do our utmost to spread the word. Hence this post.
The 5-page newspaper article pulled no punches. It discussed PFA’s (also known as per and poly fluoroalkyls).
We’ve had them on the radar from even before we designed the UltraStream, so it was no surprise to us to read about its prevalence in America and Australia.
WHERE THEY CAME FROM
Way back in the 1940’s 3M Corporation developed two chemicals by bonding fluorine with carbon.
WHAT THEY ARE USED FOR
The new substances repel grease, oil, and water, can migrate long distances and don’t break down. The two chemicals, PFOS and PFOA – became the best known in a large family of chemicals called PFAS A.K.A. per and poly-fluoroalkyls.octane sulfonate.
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) became a key ingredient in Scotch Guard. It also had used in firefighting foam – which is the reason air force bases and their surroundings are now health hot spots. It was also found to be a great additive to firefighting foams – hence the repeated pattern of health hot spots around air force bases!
It found its way into millions of homes in the form of Teflon frypans when 3M sold the rights to another mega-corporation, DuPont Chemicals.
HEALTH EFFECTS
..are still disputed. Some studies have linked them to immunity suppression, hormone chain interference, and some forms of cancer.
Naturally enough, 3M dispute this.
HOW IT GETS INTO YOUR BODY
Drinking water is your main conduit of entry, followed by food and dust. It’s also passed through the placenta and through breast milk.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
Some studies conclude that as much as 95% of the planet’s people carry these nasties in their bodies. In the USA, over 6 million people drink water that has excessive amounts of PFOAs!
And now, Australia is being exposed as another problem area with the same problems caused by the same chemicals given to us compliments of the same megacorporations.
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
Get serious! We CAN reduce or remove PFOAs. but PFOAs are only one of a whole arsenal of nasties in our water.
If you’ve decided to get the best carbon filter to remove PFOAs, ask the questions about the other nasties; lead, chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, heavy metals, pesticides, and fungicides. The list goes on!
When we designed the UltraStream four years ago, we knew about PFOAs and how they affected the USA and we asked our US engineers to include media that would filter it out.
IMPORTANT TAKE HOMES FOR YOU TO BUY SAFELY
- Not all filters are the same. The cheap carbon filter will remove some PFOAs but there is a distinct hierarchy of carbons, from the granular coal-based filter up to the Gold standard = catalytic carbon, around EIGHT times more effective. Yes, we do have this carbon, and yes, it is more expensive!
- If you’ve made the decision to get PFOAs out of you and your loved ones’ life, then take the opportunity to get rid of the many other seriously nasty polluting chemicals etc in your water, like chlorine, carcinogenic chloramines, brain-altering fluoride, DNA-decimating heavy metals and hundreds more too numerous to list here. One well-designed filter will remove or reduce all of these.
And yes, our UltraStream will do all that and more. - Look very closely at the test data for any filter you are contemplating buying. After 18 years in the water business, we have yet to see a water filter company that has equaled the testing we’ve done. We used a ‘life of filter’ testing protocol, showing how UltraStream performed from day one to day 365.Why buy a water filter that works well for day one but loses filter power from day two on? If they haven’t tested this way, it’s simply because they don’t want to. And.. if they don’t want to then there’s probably a good reason.
- Make it easy on yourself. Yes, we advise due diligence, but most water filter websites are a mass of information designed to demonstrate how much they know. (Ours is no exception!) So why not get with the only Aussie designer of leading-edge water filters?
Learn all you need to know here
Luckily, as we said above, PFAS and PFOAs are removed by carbon filtration. Again, there are levels of carbon filtration, and we’ve opted for the most expensive carbon – but the best by far. We originally chose catalytic carbon because it didn’t just remove chlorine, but also the common Australian contaminant, Chloramines, made by mixing ammonia with chlorine to keep chlorine in the water more effectively – and to save the water authority money.
So let’s make this simple for you. Our UltraStream WILL remove PFOAs and PFAS.
It will also remove chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, heavy metals, and a vast array of lesser-known evils including lead, a relatively common contaminant in old homes.
As I said earlier, there are grades of carbon, and each grade performs better than the one below. So when we had the opportunity to design our own water filter, we chose to make it in the USA where the best of the best filtration media is, and where we can be sure of what we are getting.
It installs on your kitchen bench or under the sink. All the details you need to know are here.
The result? The UltraStream. We’ve now sold over 9000 both here and in the US, Canada, UK, EU, NZ, Asia and more.
One word of warning: you can buy a cheaper water filter. Just make sure you ask whether it will remove PFAS or PFOAs.
