What you can do now

Talking with a physician

The measurements provided by STRIVE were collected for research purposes and are not diagnostic. You can discuss these PFAS blood results and the NASEM recommendations with your clinician to decide whether you would benefit from specific medical tests. 

If your physician has questions, they can refer to the resources linked below.

If you don’t have insurance and need help finding medical care, use these links to find a clinic near you or to find a health center near you.

Limit your exposure

Since PFAS are in many products, there are some ways you can try to limit your exposure.

Some of these options are:

If you are concerned about your drinking water, there are water filters to help remove PFAS. The current recommendations for removing PFAS is a reverse osmosis filter or activated carbon filter. Here is a guide from the Environmental Working group to help you determine what filter may be right for you using NSF tested filters. The EPA has proposed a more strict regulation of PFAS in water. The EPA plans to set limits, called Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), for 6 PFAS. While this is a great step forward, this has not been implemented yet and does not include limits for the thousands of other PFAS that exist in the environment today. Learn more about the EPA’s proposed regulation here.

If you are concerned about PFAS in your household products, this guide shows products that are all PFAS free and here you can see retailer’s who have committed to ban or restrict PFAS from products. Supporting these vendors can put pressure on other businesses to become PFAS free. Your spending can be a powerful force for change. 

For building materials, check out this guide to PFAS free products. 

In general, look out for greaseproof, waterproof, and nonstick products. This is the main function of PFAS, so many products that advertise this contain these chemicals. 

For PFAS in food packaging, there are many vendors who have banned PFAS in their packaging or committed phasing them out. The view which fast food restaurants, according to the Environmental Working group, are removing PFAS and when they plan to do this by, visit this site.

Grocery stores and other retailers are also taking steps to remove PFAS, to see who and the details on the removal, visit this site.

Take Action for your community

Contact local environmental advocacy groups and see what you can do. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is an agency protecting North Carolina‘s environmental resources. They specifically focus on air quality, water quality, energy strategies and the public’s health. DEQ works to educate businesses, farmers, local governments, and the public to encourage responsible environmental behavior.

They have 6 regional offices around NC in effort to enhance and ensure the quality of life of many North Carolinians.

The Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is a state agency that helps protect and restore Georgia’s environment, leading the cause to have clean air, water and land. They partner with other organizations, aiming to lead to a vibrant economy and healthy communities.

They have 7 district offices.

Reach out and share your opinions with your representatives.

To share your opinions, you can contact your government representatives.

To find who your representatives are within the state, you can find that information here:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative