PFA/PFOA Water Filter Upgrade

What Makes This Good Stuff

PFA/PFOA Water Filter single housing unit contains the FL fluoride removal filter (typical life – 1 year). Add this to an existing under counter filter, including refrigerators with ice-makers/water-through-the-door and plumbed-in coffee makers, to effectively remove PFAs/PFOA. Housings and cartridges are made in the USA of BPA-free plastic. Features quick-connect inlet/outlet fittings in your choice of 1/4″ O.D. or 3/8″ O.D. Includes 3′ of high pressure polyethylene tubing, mounting bracket, and housing wrench. 12″ tall, 5″ diameter.

Includes the housing, cartridge and an “L” bracket” and quick-connect fittings to splice/connect onto the outlet tubing.

This is the only water filter Gimme the Good Stuff has been able to find that effectively removes PFA and PFOA contaminants from water. Not sure what this means? Read below.

PFAS:

They are man made, they are very harmful, they don’t break down for decades and they are everywhere. In fact, they are so “everywhere” that 95% of humans in the US have these in our bodies. They are found in the water all over the world. They are even found in breast milk.  

PFAS is the overarching term for a class of over 4700 chemicals that are now called “forever chemicals”. They end up in our water supply and simply do not go away in any meaningful way for a long, long time. And once in our bodies they stay there and bioaccumulate. 

According to one senior CDC official, PFAS in U.S. drinking water presents “one of the most seminal public health challenges for the next decades.”

A recent review from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a host of health effects associated with PFAS exposure, including cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, and increased risk of asthma and thyroid disease, increased cholesterol, decreased vaccine response in children, changes in liver enzymes, increased high blood pressure, increased eclampsia in pregnant women, increased risk of kidney and testicular and breast cancer… and likely much more.

And then there’s this from The Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry…

There is evidence from human and animal studies that PFAS exposure may reduce antibody responses to vaccines and may reduce infectious disease. Because COVID-19 is a new public health concern, there is still much we don’t know. 

So why is nobody talking much about this? I believe it is because, at this point,  nobody knows quite what to do about it They get into us via the air we breath and the food we eat, but the most important vector is the water we drink. 

These toxins are found in a wide variety of products we buy and use such as:

• Some grease-resistant paper, fast food containers/wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, and candy wrappers
• Nonstick cookware
• Stain resistant coatings used on carpets, upholstery, and other fabrics
• Water resistant clothing
• Cleaning products
• Personal care products (shampoo, dental floss) and cosmetics (nail polish, eye makeup)
• Paints, varnishes, and sealants
• Fire extinguishing foams

PAFS eventually end up in the water cycle and become distributed into essentially every water source. They can be found in deep wells as well as municipal water systems. They are not filtered out of municipal water systems.

While not a complete solution to the PFAS problem, the ability to filter forever chemicals from our drinking water is an important step. Unfortunately, standard carbon filters are not as effective as we’d wish. Reverse Osmosis (RO) filters do a good job but come with their own set of problems.

A relatively new filtration system, using Bituminous GAC, has now been shown to be as effective as RO without all the downside associated with RO. 

We feel that it is important for us to offer these filters as either an add-on to any of our under-counter or countertop systems, or as a stand-alone filter. 

Each of us here at Gimme the Good Stuff has an under-counter unit so we will be adding the new filter to those immediately.

While an effective water filter is only part of the solution to the PFAS problem, it is a solid start.