PFAS Found at All 20 Missouri Waterway Test Sites

A new report found PFAS at all 20 Missouri water testing sites it examined, but none named so far are near Rocheport or the Missouri River.

PFAS are the “forever chemicals” used in nonstick cookware, food packaging and waterproof clothing. Here is what the report says, and what it doesn’t tell us about the Rocheport area.

What the report found

The report, “PFAS found in America’s lakes and streams”, was published Oct. 13 by Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group. It looked at PFAS testing data from rivers, lakes, streams and other surface waters from 2022 through 2024, drawn mainly from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Quality Portal, plus data from the Waterkeeper Alliance and local Waterkeeper groups.

Nationwide, PFAS turned up at least once at 1,329 of 1,602 monitored locations, or 83 percent, the report says. As many as 114 different PFAS compounds were found. KBIA reported on Oct. 21 that the locations are spread across 40 states and the District of Columbia.

In Missouri, the researchers found PFAS at all 20 testing locations, and 44 different PFAS at one or more of them, KBIA reported. Missouri’s data included sampling by Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper.

Which Missouri sites

KBIA said the Missouri sites include waterways near St. Louis and Kansas City, and popular fishing spots north of Kansas City: Little Tarkio Creek, Mill Creek and Todd Creek. The station did not list the other sites.

That matters here. None of the places KBIA named is in Boone, Howard or Cooper County, and the story does not mention the Missouri River at Rocheport. The report has an interactive map of every monitoring location. We have not been able to confirm from it whether any of Missouri’s 20 sites is on the Missouri River or in the tri-county area, so we are not saying either way.

What the report does not say

A detection is not a measure of how much is in the water. KBIA noted that the findings do not establish the level of contamination or the health risk at each site. John Rumpler, clean water director at Environment Missouri Research & Policy Center and an author of the report, said the problem could be wider than shown, because many waterways have not been tested and the analysis leaves out some available data.

The authors say PFAS can reach waterways through industrial discharge, sewage treatment plants, firefighting foam and sewage sludge spread on farmland. Some PFAS have been linked to lower fertility, developmental delays in children, weakened immune response and certain cancers, KBIA reported.

The report looks at rivers and lakes, not tap water. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources says it has monitored public drinking water supplies for PFAS since 2013, covering systems that serve more than three-quarters of the state’s population, and it posts a PFAS Viewer map of voluntary drinking water sampling.

We will report any Missouri River or tri-county results as we confirm them. For other news about the river near Rocheport, see our reports on Missouri River Days and on the river cresting at Boonville.