The "Forever Chemicals" Hiding in Your Water — and What They're Doing to Your Hormones
If you live near Waukesha County, you may have already seen the notice: the City of Pewaukee is warning residents that PFAS levels have risen in its municipal water supply. The Department of Natural Resources requires municipalities to test for PFAS, and it required Pewaukee to send a new notice after levels increased. And the fix isn't coming fast — a construction project to filter the chemicals out isn't expected to begin until 2027. tmj4
Pewaukee's Public Works Director called it a health hazard index situation and is urging residents to be cognizant of it, encouraging anyone with health concerns to work with their healthcare provider. That's a serious statement from a city official, and it deserves your attention — especially if you're a woman navigating perimenopause, when your body is already working overtime to keep hormones in balance.
Why Everyone Should Be Concerned of PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
I want to be clear: Pewaukee isn't an outlier. It's a snapshot of a much bigger national crisis. According to the Environmental Working Group's interactive PFAS contamination map, new EPA testing data reveal thousands of additional sites with detectable PFAS, bringing the total known number of contaminated sites in the U.S. to nearly 9,700 across all 50 states, D.C., and four territories. Combined with reporting from states and other sources, this confirms roughly 176 million people in U.S. communities have drinking water that has tested positive for PFAS.
And even that number likely understates the real scope of exposure — because testing has only just caught up to a chemical class that's been in circulation, and in our bodies, for decades. Measure your level of forever chemicals including PFAS, PFOS, phthalates, parabens, and more here.
What Exactly Are PFAS — and Why Should Perimenopausal Women Care?
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that have been manufactured in the U.S. since the 1940s and show up in everyday products like non-stick cookware, carpets, and upholstery. They've earned the nickname "forever chemicals" because they resist natural breakdown in the environment — and in our bodies.
That persistence is exactly why I pay close attention to PFAS with my clients. The CDC links PFAS exposure to increased cholesterol levels, certain cancers, pregnancy complications, and changes in liver enzymes — and notes that the longer someone is exposed, the greater the risk of health problems.
For women in perimenopause, this matters even more. Your endocrine system is already recalibrating — estrogen and progesterone are shifting, your liver is working harder to metabolize hormones, and your detox pathways are under more strain than ever.
Layer in a steady drip of endocrine-disrupting chemicals from your tap water, and you've got a body trying to find hormonal balance while fighting an uphill battle it didn't sign up for.
PFAS have been studied for their potential to interfere with thyroid function, cholesterol metabolism, and reproductive hormones — all systems that are already in flux during this life stage.
And Boiling Water Doesn't Help...
One important thing worth repeating from the Pewaukee warning: boiling your water does not remove PFAS. If you want them out, you need a filter specifically rated to remove PFAS. This is a common misconception I hear from clients — they assume boiling handles "everything." It doesn't touch forever chemicals.
Knowing Your Environmental Chemical Exposure
Here's the part I really want you to sit with: most of us are walking around with an unknown chemical burden. We don't know what's accumulated in our tissues from years of tap water, personal care products, non-stick pans, and stain-resistant fabrics — and you can't build an effective detox or nutrition strategy around a guess.
I use the Environmental Toxins Panel with my clients. It's a single urine test that measures 49 metabolites across chemical categories most of us are exposed to daily, including PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, PFBA), phthalates, parabens, herbicides, pesticides, BPA, and more.
Instead of guessing at your toxic burden, we get real data — and from there, can build a targeted nutrition and detoxification plan based on what your body is actually carrying, not a generic cleanse.
What You Can Do
Check your local water quality using EWG's interactive contamination map to see what's been detected near you. Find the map here.
Get a PFAS-rated water filter — boiling isn't enough. The reverese osmosis under-sink filtration system I've had in my house for years is RKIN. They also have a zero assembly countertop filtration system.
Consider testing your own chemical burden rather than wondering about it. You can find the Environmental Toxins Panel here to order, or if you want to look at additional toxins including mycotoxins (mold) you can order the All-Tox Panel with over 104 chemicals measured.
If you're experiencing symptoms you can't quite explain — stubborn weight changes, fatigue, skin issues, hormone chaos that goes beyond "normal" perimenopause — and you're wondering whether environmental toxins could be part of the picture, I want to hear from you.
Reach out with your questions or concerns, and let's talk about whether the Environmental Toxins Panel makes sense for you.
Ready to stop guessing and start measuring your toxic burden? Order your Environmental Toxins Panel today and get real answers about what's actually in your system.
Liz Riesen, RD, CD
Registered dietitian and hormone health coach helping women to address hormone imbalances, increase energy, and lose weight naturally. As a busy mom, I know that you need a clear and realistic approach you can fit into a busy lifestyle. I developed my Foundations of Hormone Balance Method to do just this! Helping women feel confident and comfortable in their body and with food is my passion.
Follow me @LizRiesen
Comments