The Rivers That Fed Us: "Forever Chemicals" Found in 87% of Massachusetts Waterways Tested

A few weeks back I wrote about the alewife weir on the Mystic River, where people have counted the spring herring run for years. This morning GBH News reported what else is in our rivers, and it stopped me.

What the report found

A new report from the MASSPIRG Education Fund, Environment Massachusetts Research and Policy Center and Frontier Group tested 108 locations between 2022 and 2024. PFAS, the so-called "forever chemicals," turned up in 87% of them. They were found from the Charles River and Jamaica Pond to the Connecticut, Chicopee and Hoosic Rivers out west.

• PFAS have been linked to health effects ranging from decreased fertility to several cancers.
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has issued 64 fish consumption advisories tied to PFAS.
• The chemicals are common in nonstick cookware, fast food packaging and some clothing, and they often reach waterways through sewage discharges and other pathways.

Deirdre Cummings of MASSPIRG called it "the tip of the iceberg because we do not test all the waterways." Lots of rivers and streams, including many of ours here on the North Shore, simply weren't part of this study.

What these waters fed people then

While writing The Wing, I spent a lot of time with Nanepashemet's people and the rivers they depended on. Every spring the alewives ran up these rivers by the thousands, and families gathered at the falls and weirs to catch them. The fish fed people and fed the cornfields. The river was the pantry.

Four hundred years later the alewives still come back, and people still fish these rivers. But today the smart question before you eat your catch is "What's in it?"

Practical takeaways

• Check before you eat. Look up the Massachusetts DPH fish consumption advisories for the specific pond or river before you keep a fish for dinner, especially for kids or anyone pregnant.
• If you're on a private well, test it. Town water is tested by the utility. Private wells aren't, so the owner has to arrange it. Use a state-certified lab that tests for PFAS.
• Cut the source at home where alternatives make sense, such as nonstick pans and greasy takeout wrappers.

A fair-minded word on fixing it

Legislators considered several bills last session, including banning PFAS in certain consumer products and banning the spreading of dried sewage sludge on land. Many other states have passed laws like that, but none have made it through the Massachusetts Legislature yet. Cummings put it bluntly: "We're definitely sort of in the back end of the pack." Whatever your politics, clean rivers aren't a left or right issue. They're a Massachusetts issue.

Do you fish the local ponds and rivers? Do you check the advisories first? Tell me in the comments.

— John Nestor
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, Marblehead