Friday, October 10, 2025 - As ski season gets closer, new research is ruining the clean picture of mountain leisure. Researchers have found that artificial snow at ski resorts has detectable amounts of PFAS, which are the same forever chemicals that are related to cancer and immunological diseases. Fluorinated ski waxes, waterproof coatings on snow guns, and hydraulic fluids used in grooming machines all let these chemicals into snowmaking systems. Every spring, when the snow melts, runoff that has PFAS in it flows into creeks and alpine reservoirs that often supply drinking water to communities. PFAS don't break down over time like other pollutants do. Instead, they stay in the soil and groundwater and move through it, getting into surrounding communities. Environmental groups now say that places where people go to play winter sports may be making the PFAS pollution in the area worse than they imagined. As statistics indicate signs of these chemicals in mountain streams and sediments, resorts that claim to be environmentally friendly are coming under more scrutiny. Local officials are starting to keep an eye on PFAS levels in runoff to see if they need to take any action. Health experts say that the danger of cancer from PFAS-contaminated water could be far higher than just the slopes. This is because people who live in rural areas and rely on mountain watersheds could be exposed all year long. Some towns that have been harmed have already contacted a PFAS water pollution lawyer to learn about their rights and whether they may get remediation money from resort operators or equipment makers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that PFAS compounds are very hard to break down in the environment, which makes them last longer in frigid areas where melting happens slowly. Research in Europe and North America has demonstrated that ski waxes with fluorinated polymers leak PFAS into snow when they are used normally. Once these chemicals are in the ground, they can move for kilometers with meltwater and get into rivers that feed both hydroelectric plants and municipal water intakes. Snowmaking equipment also employ lubricants and sealants that may have PFAS in them. When they freeze and thaw over and over, they release more of these chemicals. Alpine ecosystems are especially under risk since the shallow alpine soils don't filter chemicals very well. Researchers that study the environment have detected PFAS levels in mountain streams that are similar to those found near urban stormwater systems. This suggests that pollution from recreation may be a bigger problem than previously thought. Some ski resorts are looking into wax and hydraulic fluids that don't contain PFAS, but many people still don't know that their activities are linked to chemical pollution. To safeguard nearby watersheds, regulators are looking at whether seasonal water testing and equipment certification should be required for resort licenses. The EPA is also telling makers of outdoor gear to change the formulas for waterproof coatings and waxes so that PFAS are completely removed from the winter sports supply chain.
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