Flathead Lake Biological Station scientists detect ‘forever chemicals’ in Flathead Lake watershed

“We were thinking, or perhaps hoping, that we would have no detections, but of course, that’s not what happened,” Elser told the Daily Montanan. “They’re called forever chemicals, and they’re pretty much forever in the environment now.”

All concentrations of the compounds were low, and well below standards established for drinking water to be safe, Elser said, but it is the first detection in surface water near the lake.. 

PFAS chemicals can take thousands of years to break down and can be present in water, soil and even food. 

Studies have linked exposure to the chemicals with increased risks of cancer, immune disorders, problems with child development, and other adverse health effects, according to an EPA health advisory.

They are traditionally found in waterproofing material, food packaging and in fire-fighting foam, making military bases, airports and industrial sites the most common locations for finding them. 

“I think people would expect to find them if they dug under a landfill or went to a manufacturing site where PFAS is known to be used,” Elser said. “If we’re out there in the river and you can detect them, it’s of some concern.”

Flathead Lake is the largest body of freshwater in the western U.S. outside of Alaska, according to a fact sheet from the Flathead Lake Biological Station. It’s known for its water quality, but the clean and clear lake also faces threats

The Flathead Lake Biological Station, part of the University of Montana, has been doing regular monitoring of the lake for nearly 50 years. 

But most of the focus of that monitoring is on water quality and tracking organics —  for example looking at nitrate levels, algae concentration and invasive species — and despite increased pushes nationwide to test for PFAS contamination, the tests are expensive and not part of the station’s routine sampling. 

“It’s not something you take on casually,” Elser said, citing the high costs due to a limited number of labs having the capabilities to test for PFAS. 

There are more than 15,000 different PFAS compounds, and Flathead researchers targeted 40 of them for analysis. At all sampling locations in Flathead Lake, the Flathead and Swan rivers, and Soner Creek, showed detections of PFAS — 10 different compounds were detected — and three of them were found at quantifiable levels above laboratory reporting limits. 

“This isn’t for raising an alarm, but it’s good for raising awareness that they’re there in the general environment,” Elser said. “The benefit of having this awareness is we as scientists can start to ask questions, and the public can start to ask questions: Do we know enough about PFAS in the environment? Do we know where they are and how they’re changing? And that calls for more assessments.”

In addition to the PFAS detections, water samples from Ashley Creek, Whitefish Lake and two sites in Flathead Lake also had detectable concentrations of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. 

Chemicals from pharmaceuticals and personal care products and their degradation byproducts include caffeine, prescription and non-prescription drugs, consumer products such as sunscreen and soaps, and controlled substances. They are increasingly being found in the environment, but their ecological impacts and effects on human and aquatic organisms aren’t well known. 

Elser said the station doesn’t currently have the funding to do continuous monitoring of the chemicals in addition to the standard monitoring work, but that scientists are “pretty entrepreneurial” and will be writing grants and research proposals seeking funding to continue the efforts. 

“In a perfect world, we’d be adding those monitoring efforts to our annual surveys,” Elser said. “That’s our fantasy world — more funding, so we can discover what’s going on with our environment.”