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PFAS are a class of more than 15,000 chemicals with similar properties that are used in a wide variety of household products to make them waterproof, grease-proof or stain resistant. The chemicals don’t break down naturally, so they can build up in the environment and human bodies. Exposure to PFAS is linked to health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, liver and thyroid problems, reproductive problems, lowered vaccine efficacy in children and increased risk of birth defects, among others.

The chemicals, which are extremely water-repellent, are sometimes used in fracking fluid to make the chemical mixture more stable and to more efficiently flush oil and gas out of the ground at high pressure. There’s also evidence that companies use the chemicals during initial drilling and other phases of oil and gas extraction, but since they aren’t required to disclose those chemicals, there’s no way of knowing how widespread the practice is.