Nantucket has a PFAS problem in the drinking water. It's his job to solve it.

Boston Globe

24-06-2025

And now, PFAS is cropping up on different parts of the island, too.
The levels detected vary but, the worry is the same: these chemicals, technically called Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, can cause a troubling range of medical problems, from low birthweight to cancer, as well as effects on the thyroid, liver, kidneys, hormone levels, and the immune system.
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Starting in the 1950s, PFAS were used in just about everything — nonstick coating on pans, candy bar wrappers, carpets, cleaning products, dental floss. One of the biggest sources, when it comes to ground water contamination on Nantucket and elsewhere, is firefighting foam, which can infiltrate the ground water.
Because the chemicals don't easily break down, people who are exposed repeatedly over time can find that PFAS builds up in their bodies.
'The more we test, the more we're going to detect,' said Andrew Shapero, Nantucket's new environmental contamination administrator.
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According to the town, Shapero is the first full-time municipal employee focused solely on PFAS mitigation, testing, research, communication, and education anywhere in the United States.
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Shapero discussed the latest PFAS detection, what's known — and isn't — about the extent of the problem on the island, and how homeowners and vacation-goers should feel about their drinking water. The following interview has been edited and condensed for space.
Q: How should people feel? How should homeowners and vacationers feel about the water on Nantucket?
PFAS have been detected in many wells on the island. PFAS have also been detected in many water sources throughout the country. [The US Geological Survey
And so from that perspective, Nantucket has a PFAS problem that is similar to the rest of the country.
We definitely know we have some hotspots, like the airport or like Tom's Way. At the same time, MassDEP [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections] and UMass
So, Nantucket has a PFAS problem. The rest of the state and the rest of the country have a PFAS problem, too.
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Q: Why did Nantucket take the step of creating this position and hiring you?
Nantucket does have a few interesting things going for it. One is that Nantucket is a sole source aquifer, so all of the water on Nantucket comes from the ground that residents live on top of, whether that's private wells or the public water supply. So Nantucket really has no alternative options.
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We have gotten detects in private wells. We've gotten detects in the public water supply as well, and the town is busy getting treatment installed on the public water supply.
On top of that, we also have all of our town utilities on the island as well. Nantucket has a waste water treatment facility. It also has a landfill. It has an airport, of course. So a lot of towns have maybe some of those utilities, but don't have all of those. Nantucket, everything is just squished together.
Q: You mentioned Nantucket has a sole-source aquifer. Is the aquifer contaminated with PFAS? And if so, once it's contaminated, can it be un-contaminated?
Certainly, to some extent, there is PFAS in the aquifer.
Getting it out of the aquifer is challenging. Out of people's water is a little bit easier. These are forever chemicals, as you know, but filtration is an option.
Our public water supplier is installing treatment on the public water supply. Private well owners can install filtration on their private wells. Near the airport, MassDEP
assisted and provided a point-of-use treatment system for homeowners. Filtration is also an option.
Q: What does all of this mean for people's health?
The dose is important, and getting your blood tested is a great way to assess your cumulative dose. We all know that water is only one source of PFAS to the human body, so the National Academies has some guideline values for PFAS.
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They say that if you have two nanograms per milliliter of PFAS in your blood or less, you shouldn't reasonably expect to have health effects associated with PFAS.
If you have two to 20, you might have some effects from PFAS, and they have found that 91 percent of Americans fall into that category.
On top of that, they have a threshold of 20, where you are in kind of the elevated area. And so that's about 9 percent of Americans who really should be keeping an eye on potential health effects from PFAS.
We should all expect that we have PFAS in our blood. The question is, how much for individual people?
Q: It's tourist season on Nantucket. How should people feel about drinking water when they're out there?
The town water in Nantucket meets the Massachusetts state standards.
Massachusetts has some of the strictest PFAS regulations in the country. If you're coming from out of state, you might have PFAS in your well or in your public water supply that exceeds the Massachusetts standards. They are largely unregulated in other states.
Q: You recently learned of PFAS in a new part of Nantucket — at the corner of Hummock Pond and Burnt Swamp. The levels were well above the state's standard of 20 parts per trillion. What do you know about the latest detection and the extent of the problem?
A: It was 124 parts per trillion. So it's not quite as high as the highest concentrations on Tom's Way or the highest concentrations near the airport, but it is in MassDEP's uppermost threshold.
We are still collecting data. MassDEP is still doing its investigation. We have a lot of voluntary samples that come in. ... So, we're getting a lot of new PFAS data, and I think the more we test, the more we're going to see detects of PFAS.
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Q: And what was the source of the latest detection?
A: MassDEP is still investigating this new detection, so we'll see what they find out.
We've seen data that suggests probably a third of wells have PFAS on the island, at least in some concentration.
Q: What's one thing you hope everyone will do?
A lot of my work focuses on private wells, so I would say, follow MassDEP's recommendation and get a PFAS well test. Every well owner should do it at least once.
People can pick up a PFAS test at our Health Department for $275, which is admittedly pricey, but that's probably about as cheap as you can find.
Q: Any advice for people outside of Nantucket?
I would say just be aware of PFAS if you are on a private well. It's not just a Nantucket problem; it is a statewide and a countrywide problem. My guess would be that a lot of private well owners might have PFAS in their wells — probably not the majority, but a substantial portion. And so, yeah, it's incredibly important to get your well tested.
Sabrina Shankman can be reached at