Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D.

One of the biggest takeaways here is we’re not just detecting just PFOA and PFOS in these systems, but it’s a mixture of different PFAS chemicals.

They're called forever chemicals because once they get into the environment, they don't degrade. Once they get into your body, they tend to accumulate in organs. They like to stick to proteins in your body. These are chemicals the body hasn't seen before, and they can basically affect every system -- your liver, your kidneys.

While PFAS has contaminated communities all over the country, the crisis has been under the radar in California until now. PFAS pollution in California is much more widespread than we knew.

We need to look at contaminants as a group -- not just one at a time. It's more important to analyze co-occurring contaminants to understand the real world exposure.

Even low levels of contamination could cause harm to your health. Water quality could be much better.

Most mattresses typically contain polyurethane foam, which is made from petroleum chemicals. This foam can off-gas, or emit, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are harmful to health and have been linked to respiratory irritation and nervous system harm.

Drinking water often contains more than one contaminant. If we’re just thinking about drinking water, this kind of assessment more accurately reflects what you would see in real life exposures.

Inhaling even the tiniest amount of asbestos in talc can cause mesothelioma and other deadly diseases, many years after exposure.

[PFAS] is nearly impossible to avoid. This is largely a failure of chemical regulation.