EJQ4 - Spring 2025 - Journal - Page 13
“Thebondbetweencarbonand昀氀uorineisoneofthe
strongest in organic chemistry, so the main concern is
their persistence in the environment.”
11 known and identi昀椀ed PFAS variants, including per昀氀uorooctanesulfonic
acid (PFOS) and per昀氀uorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). This average
falls within the Ontario government’s advice value of 70 ng/L in drinking
water, though the federal government recently reduced its own drinking
water threshold from 70 to 30 ng/L for the total sum of 25 speci昀椀c
PFAS. As well, the environment ministry has measured even higher
concentrations in parts of Lee’s Creek, which remains under a 昀椀shing
advisory, and as high as 772,000 ng/L in some of the creek’s naturally
occurring foams.
As might be expected, local residents are following the situation closely.
Brennain Lloyd with Northwatch, a regional environmental NGO, says
results from 昀椀ve sampling stations spanning the lakes showed levels
averaging 58.3 ng/L but with a range from 30 to 109.3 ng/L.
“Those levels are de昀椀nitely grounds for concern,” says Lloyd, adding
that Health Canada has published an objective maximum of 30 ng/L for
the sum of all PFAS in drinking water, while some jurisdictions outside
Canada have objectives as low as the single digits. “Local residents are
concerned but have been surprisingly patient as the agencies progress
slowly and share a minimal amount of information,” Lloyd says.
“When I pour a glass of water in my kitchen, I’m drinking water that’s
contaminated with PFAS. It’s clear, it’s cold, it tastes great, but it is
toxic.”
Karin Pratte, director of water, wastewater and environmental services
with the City of North Bay, says the City, the Department of National Defence, the Ontario environment ministry, and the North Bay Parry Sound
District Health Unit formed a working group in
2016 to address the situation. “Because it was
an emerging contaminant at the time, there
NO EXCUSES: DATABASE
wasn’t a lot of data to speak to what the impact
WITH 500+ PFAS ALTERNATIVES
of the PFAS would be,” recalls Pratte.
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • S PRI N G 2 0 2 5 • P AGE 1 3
