KDHE: PFAS contamination is widespread in Kansas; monitoring and cleanup work will expand

Leo, a Kansas Department of Health and Environment official, told the House Committee on Water that PFAS — a family of persistent man‑made chemicals often called "forever chemicals" — have been detected across Kansas and will require expanded monitoring and cleanup work.

The presentation, given during a Committee on Water meeting, summarized uses of PFAS in consumer products and firefighting foams, outlined health concerns and federal regulatory changes, and described early sampling results in Kansas showing low but widespread detections in streams, lakes and fish tissue.

KDHE described PFAS (also spoken of as PFOS/PFAS in the presentation) as a large group of man‑made compounds used since roughly the 1950s in items such as nonstick cookware, stain repellents (for example, Scotchgard and similar products), microwave popcorn bags, food wrappers and aqueous film‑forming foams (AFFF) used by firefighters. Leo said the carbon‑fluorine bond makes these chemicals exceptionally persistent in the environment.

"This is purely informational today," Leo said, adding that Kansas is only beginning to address PFAS and that many questions remain…