Hold the PFAS, Pass the Beer: Forever Chemicals in Water Contribute to PFAS in Beer

Beer and the Growing Concern of PFAS Contamination

As a graduate student, I remember seeing the words “Drink Locally, Think Globally” one day as I sat in a local brewery, sipping a sampler while writing a paper about chemical contaminants. 

Beer is indeed a global phenomenon – an essential beverage in cultures around the world since premodern times. It is the third most popular beverage globally, following water and tea. In the days before water purification, it was safer than water, because the brewing process eliminates pathogens. However, in modern times, beer can also be a source of a modern chemical concern: PFAS, the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances that have attracted attention for their negative effects on health.

PFAS: The Impact of Forever Chemicals in Water

PFAS are a class of more than 16,000 human-made chemicals with water-resistant and stain-repelling properties. Widely used in consumer products and industrial manufacturing, they are often called “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment. PFAS can cause various health issues, including reproductive, cardiovascular, liver, kidney, immune, and cancer effects.

In recent years, as research has revealed that nearly every American has "forever chemicals” in their blood, the Environmental Protection Agency has addressed the prevalence of PFAS in contaminated drinking water as being a major contributor to widespread PFAS exposure across the U.S. and globally.

Investigating PFAS in Beer Through Water Quality Testing

And this is where brewing comes in. The essential ingredients of beer, the ones that make up the unique flavor and appearance of each variety, are malt, hops, and yeast. But beer is more than 90 percent water. While breweries typically filter and treat their source water, existing processes may not remove contaminants such as PFAS. Thus, if there is PFAS in the water, our thought is that there would be PFAS in the beer.

We set out to discover if beer consumption contributes to PFAS exposure for beer drinkers. We know that methods and water sources differ across brands and brewing locations, so we needed to purchase and test a variety of beers. It may have looked like we were prepping for a party, but the beverages were brought to our laboratory for analysis instead. 

Our study is the first to adapt a drinking water PFAS testing method for beer and explore how local water supplies and brewery types impact PFAS levels in beers. Our findings confirm yet another example of how these “forever chemicals” make their way into products that people across America consume. It has been more than a decade since the EPA first requested that large public drinking water systems begin testing for PFAS. Maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS compounds were established in 2023, and in late April 2025, the EPA announced further measures to address PFAS contamination. 

However, testing and monitoring have not yet expanded to consumable beverages like beer. Despite the rise of competitors such as non-alcoholic mocktails, the U.S. beer market exceeds $400 billion. With about one quarter of the product coming from craft breweries and the rest from macrobreweries, this translates to thousands of beer makers with an interest in offering quality products. 

Did the study find PFAS in beer? 

PFAS were detected in most beers, especially from smaller breweries located near contaminated water sources. Key findings include:

• PFAS in Beer and Drinking Water Occurrence. Beers selected based on their brewery location’s proximity to elevated levels of PFAS in drinking water had a significantly higher likelihood of PFAS detection compared to larger-scale U.S. or international beers. Notably, PFAS in beer was not restricted to areas near known contaminated sites, like manufacturing facilities. Because of its transport into the environment, it is associated with PFAS levels in public water supplies, with perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) and PFOA the most frequently detected in both beer and drinking water source.
• PFAS is a Pervasive Contaminant with Variability from Can to Can. At least one PFAS was detected in almost all beers analyzed with variation from can-to-can in some six-packs. Despite reduced use of longer chain PFAS compounds, particularly PFOA and PFOS, they are still present in beers analyzed.
• A Connection to Firefighting Foam. PFSAs, a type of PFAS category that are linked to firefighting foam usage, were the most common PFAS found in beers, and PFBS, another smaller PFAS compound that is increasingly used in firefighting foam was also found.  The substitution of long-chain to short-chain compounds was observed in both drinking water and the beers analyzed.
• Comparison to PFAS Drinking Water Guidelines. While there are currently no standards for PFAS levels in beer, we can compare the levels found in beer to the U.S. EPA drinking water standards. Some beers exceeded standards, with three beers above the PFOA standard, and one North Carolina beer above the PFOS MCL. Other beers also had detectable levels of three compounds below standards (PFHxS, PFNA, or HFPO–DA). The remaining PFAS compounds analyzed do not currently have standards for comparison.
• North Carolina. Beers in this region generally had more PFAS species detected than those in Michigan or California, reflecting the variety of PFAS sources in North Carolina. The two beers with the largest number of different PFAS detected were from Chatham and Alamance counties, where higher concentrations and variability in PFAS types were observed in the Upper Haw River. HFPO–DA was also found in both beer and raw water from a drinking water treatment plant in the lower region of the Cape Fear River Basin, downstream from a fluorochemical manufacturing plant.
• Michigan. Kalamazoo County had the highest PFOA concentration in drinking water and beer among the counties evaluated across MI, NC, and CA. The correlation between PFAS, PFOA, and PFBS levels in beers was linked to local water contamination.
• The U.S. Approximately 18% of breweries operating in the United States are located within zip codes served by public water supplies with detectable PFAS in drinking water (as of July 2024 via the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule).
• Worldwide. International beers typically had lower levels of PFAS, likely due to lower PFAS presence in regional drinking water and a lack of PFAS manufacturing. 

What actions can be taken to address PFAS in water and beer?

Our PFAS in beer findings are intended to help inform data-driven policies on PFAS in beverages for governmental agencies, deepen understanding of PFAS presence for water utilities, aid brewers who could modify their water treatment processes, and allow consumers make more informed choices.

How drinking water utilities can help reduce PFAS

Spatial parallels between PFAS levels in local drinking water and beer suggest that drinking water is a primary route of PFAS contamination in beer. In areas where drinking water treatment systems have been implemented, PFAS levels in beer are likely lower than they would have been if testing occurred beforehand. Drinking water utilities can take several steps to reduce PFAS in source water used for brewing and other drinking and cooking purposes:

• Identify sources of PFAS: Work with companies and the community to reduce additional releases of PFAS into source water used for drinking water treatment.
• Enhanced filtration systems: Employ advanced filtration methods like activated carbon or reverse osmosis to remove PFAS from the water below standards.
• Regular monitoring: Conduct consistent testing of water sources and finished drinking water for PFAS levels to ensure compliance with standards.
• Public reporting: Inform customers and beer consumers about updates in the utility’s annual water quality consumer confidence reports.
• Collaborative efforts: Work with local breweries to develop best practices for water treatment and reduce PFAS contamination in beer.

How breweries can address PFAS contamination

Water quality pretreatment is essential in brewing to ensure proper taste and brewing efficiency, such as particle filtering and pathogen disinfection, but PFAS removal is not typically considered. As conventional water treatment typically does not remove PFAS and all drinking water treatment plants do not yet have additional treatment technologies, advanced water treatment at breweries may be necessary, such as:

• Anion exchange and activated carbon treatment, which are better at removing longer-chain PFAS but less effective for shorter-chain PFAS.
• Reverse osmosis treatment, which is very effective for various PFAS but is costly and energy-intensive.

Our research presents breweries with an opportunity to verify that their water filtration systems are effectively removing PFAS from source water, particularly in regions where PFAS contamination is known. Brewers should test their source water or review the results provided by their public water utility. If PFAS are detected, it is advisable to implement water filtration systems or ensure that PFAS-contaminated water is not used in the brewing process. 

What consumers can do to limit PFAS exposure from beer 

Consumers can take several steps to reduce their exposure to PFAS in beer and other beverages overall:

• Check the brewery location and support your local breweries: Beers brewed in regions with known PFAS contamination in drinking water are more likely to contain PFAS. Look up the water quality reports from the brewery's local public water utility to assess PFAS levels. Support breweries that take on extra costs for filtration.
• Choose beers from regions with lower PFAS presence: Beers from regions with lower PFAS contamination generally will contain less PFAS.
• Drink in moderation: Most consumers are well aware that alcohol comes with risks of its own. As already encouraged by the Surgeon General earlier this year, drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation is a step consumers can take.
• Stay informed: Follow updates and studies on PFAS presence in beverages to make updated decisions. As more drinking water utilities employ tertiary water treatment to remove PFAS from source water supplies, it is likely that PFAS levels in local beers will also decrease over time.
• Consider your purchases: If a product says it is stain-repellent, water-resistant, or non-stick and does not label the material making it so, it likely contains PFAS, which translates to more PFAS in the environment, and potentially your beer.

Expanding the understanding of PFAS in beer for data-driven decision making

As the first study of PFAS in beer with varying brewery sizes and brewing locations globally, the results expand our understanding of the pervasiveness of PFAS in consumable beverages and pave the way for additional research, policy planning, and advancements in water quality and food safety for governmental agencies, utilities, and policymakers interested in thinking about drinking locally, globally, and safely.

To read more about the study, check out our open-access article: 

Hold My Beer: The Linkage between Municipal Water and Brewing Location on PFAS in Popular Beverages. 2025. Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, Nicole M. DeLuca, Evan Thorp, Chamindu Liyanapatirana, Laura Allen, and Andrew J. Kondash. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c11265

Learn more about how we identify and eliminate exposure to contaminants where people live, learn, work, and play through RTI CleanPlusTM , a portfolio of environmental health and water quality programs. RTI has in-house capabilities spanning PFAS assessment, testing, remediation and identification of alternatives.