EPA warns that even tiny amounts of chemicals found in drinking water pose risks

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., on April 14. The EPA is warning that two nonstick and stain-resistant compounds in drinking water pose health risks at levels below the government's ability to detect them. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that two nonstick and stain-resistant compounds found in drinking water pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot currently be detected.

The two compounds, known as PFOA and PFOS, have been voluntarily phased out by U.S. manufacturers, but there are a limited number of ongoing uses and the chemicals remain in the environment because they do not degrade over time. The compounds are part of a larger cluster of "forever chemicals" known as PFAS that have been used in consumer products and industry since the 1940s.