Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly has created a countywide PFAS task force in response to alarming water test results at five county public schools.

The Director of Public Works, Bill Bettin, who oversees the county’s public water system, leads the task force. Members include representatives from the Harford County Health Department, school system, municipal governments of Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace and other subject matter experts.

The task force’s goal is to coordinate strategies to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Regulations that were released in April. The regulations require all public water systems to be tested for PFAS chemicals by 2027 and to abide by contamination limits by 2029.

PFAS chemicals— short for per- and polyfluo​​roalkyl substances — are human-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in a range of products including stain- ​and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, cookware, food packaging and firefighting foams. The chemicals are commonly referred to as “microplastics” and “forever chemicals” as they do not naturally break down in nature.

Research from the Maryland Department of the Environment suggests that high levels of PFAS may lead to health issues for humans, such as high cholesterol; changes in liver enzymes; decreased infant birth weight; decreased vaccine effectiveness in children; increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women and increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer.

The National Drinking Water Regulation set maximum contamination levels for six PFAS chemicals commonly found in drinking water. The levels are:

PFOA: 4 parts per trillion
PFOS: 4 parts per trillion
PFHxS: 10 parts per trillion
PFNA: 10 parts per trillion
HFPO-DA: 10 parts per trillion
Mixtures containing two or more PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS: Hazard index

In a news release announcing the task force, the county stated that Harford’s public water system — which serves more than 130,000 residents — has been tested for PFAS since 2012. Officials noted in the release that the system uses the current best method for removing PFAS from drinking water, activated carbon, and that the county performs more than 230,000 tests of the system each year.

The release stated that recent tests of the system indicate that PFAS levels in the system are “safely below” the regulations. However, the county did not respond to a request to provide the test results.

Last month the Maryland Department of the Environment advised Harford schools to prohibit anyone at Harford Technical High, Fallston High, Harford Academy, Norrisville Elementary and Prospect Mill Elementary from drinking the schools’ water.

Parents, students and staff at Churchville Elementary, Dublin Elementary, Fallston Middle, Forest Hill Elementary and Jarrettsville Elementary were also notified by Harford school officials about the presence of PFAS chemicals in their drinking water. Individuals at those schools are not prohibited from consuming water by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Wells supplying Harford schools are owned and operated by the school system — requiring them to handle the testing and cleaning of their systems.

Through the task force, government, school and health officials will collaborate on ways to secure grant funding, exchange knowledge and information and find solutions to meeting the regulation deadline of 2029.