Five Harford County schools are prohibiting students from consuming water at school after tests revealed excessive levels of PFAS chemicals.

Harford Technical High School and Fallston High School — which were identified for excessive levels of PFAS chemicals earlier this month by the Maryland Department of the Environment — as well as Harford Academy, Norrisville Elementary and Prospect Mill Elementary schools are also prohibiting students from consuming school water due to high levels of contamination.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the National Drinking Water Regulation which 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

The regulation mandates that monitoring of public water systems must be completed by 2027 and that public water systems have until 2029 to implement solutions to reduce PFAS to meet government standards.

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 fire-fighting foams.

These chemicals are commonly referred to as “microplastics” and “forever chemicals” as they do not naturally break down in nature.

Current research from the Maryland Department of the Environment suggests that high levels of PFAS may lead to 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.

Schools prohibiting students from consuming school water will offer bottled water. Signs will be posted to ensure students are using school water for handwashing only and school kitchens will use water dispensers for on-site food preparation.

Harford school’s Manager of Communication, Jillian Lader, stated that the school system will continue to provide bottled water to students at the five schools until the wells servicing the buildings test at acceptable levels.

In an email sent to parents informing them of the PFAS presence in school water, school officials called the corrective measure of providing bottled water a “lengthy and costly process.” Lader noted that Harford schools anticipate receiving access to grant funds in the future to help offset the costs associated with the contamination, however, the grants are not promised.

Outside of the five schools with high PFAS levels, parents, students and staff at Churchville Elementary, Dublin Elementary, Fallston Middle, Forest Hill Elementary and Jarrettsville Elementary schools were notified by Harford school officials due to the presence of PFAS chemicals in their drinking water.

These schools are not encouraged to prohibit consuming school water by the Maryland Department of the Environment but were advised to notify potential consumers due to the contamination levels.

Maryland began the first phase of water testing for PFAS in 2020 and has since monitored each water system, statewide. Through the testing and recent regulations, the Maryland Department of the Environment found that 16% of Maryland systems have higher than acceptable levels of PFAS.

According to the Maryland Department of the Environment, consumers of the 73 community water systems across the state with PFAS levels higher than 4 parts per trillion were notified of the contamination.

The Maryland Department of the Environment did not respond to questions on what PFAS contamination level was used for notification of Churchville Elementary, Dublin Elementary, Fallston Middle, Forest Hill Elementary and Jarrettsville Elementary schools.

As of Tuesday, Lader was unable to disclose the type of PFAS contamination or the amount found in the water at each school.