State Finds High Level Of PFOS On Central Maine Dairy Farm

MAINE PUBLIC • June 24, 2020

State regulators have taken a central Maine dairy farm off line after discovering levels of a contaminant as high as 10,000 times the actionable limit. Samples taken in June and early July showed the high levels of Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. Called P-FOS, it's one of a class of substances found in flame retardants, Teflon and other products that is associated with a broad array of health problems such as infertility, thyroid disease, and low birth-rates. But Nancy McBrady, who directs the state's milk-testing program, says milk from the farm that went to market was blended with a very large amount of uncontaminated milk, and so general consumers were not exposed to toxin levels above the "action threshold."