Federal toxicologist, health advocates push for tougher limits on ‘forever chemicals’ The debate in Augusta over health standards for PFAS is occurring against a backdrop of a growing contamination hotspot in central Maine. Share Judy Poulin and others in Fairfield have been instructed to stop using their well water for drinking and cooking because of high levels of PFAS. The federal government’s former top toxicologist testified Tuesday in support of setting tougher limits in Maine on so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water, but cautioned the state may want to be even more aggressive. Maine lawmakers are considering nearly a dozen bills seeking to address growing concerns about contamination with PFAS, a class of widely used industrial chemicals that have been linked to health problems. Frustrated by slow federal action, groups are pushing for Maine to join a handful of other states – including Massachusetts and Vermont – in setting an aggressive health standard in drinking water of 20 parts per trillion of six types of PFAS.