HYANNIS – A study released Friday by Harvard University researchers found that conventional testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found just a fraction of what was actually present in water tested at sampling sites in the Childs River and Quashnet River watersheds in Mashpee, and the Mill Creek watershed in Hyannis.
But the finding no one expected was an additional large amount of PFAS in these three watersheds that had previously gone undetected and was not from firefighting foams used nearby.
“The biggest point sources (for PFAS) were the firefighting foams, but that it only explained half the total amount was very surprising to us,” said Bridger Ruyle, a Ph.D. student in environmental science and engineering at Harvard University and the lead author of the paper, which was published in the journal “Environmental Science & Technology.”