LANSING, MI -- The state of Michigan will test 1,380 public water systems and about 460 schools for fluorochemicals as part a comprehensive effort to develop a baseline dataset on their presence in statewide drinking water supplies.

On Friday, May 18, letters announcing testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

The DEQ says the $1.7 million effort will be the most robust survey of water supplies undertaken thus far by any state.

The agency says that roughly 75 percent of drinking water consumed in Michigan comes from public water systems. Schools that operate their own wells will be considered priority sites.

The goal is to have testing finished by January.

"We think this is a proactive step," said DEQ communications director Scott Dean. "It allows us to learn more, even in the absence of clear policy direction from federal agencies."

PFAS -- sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they do not naturally degrade or breakdown in the environment -- have been found at more than 30 locations in 15 communities so far across Michigan.

The chemistry has been used in fire suppressant foam at airports, fire departments and refineries, as well as by industrial chrome platers and apparel manufacturers.

High profile examples of contamination in drinking water include public and private wells in the Rockford area where shoemaker Wolverine World Wide dumped tannery waste laden with PFAs from use of Scotchgard to waterproof shoe leather.

Chemical firefighting foam used at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda and Camp Grayling have also caused widespread PFAS pollution in private wells in those areas.

The chemicals have also been discovered in water systems that pull from the Great Lakes. The Saginaw-Midland Municipal Supply Corporation, which draws from Lake Huron, and several municipal systems drawing from Lake St. Clair have tested for low PFAS levels.

Exposure to PFAS has been linked in human studies to some cancers, thyroid disorders, elevated cholesterol and other diseases.

Drinking water testing is the latest effort in a multi-prong state response to PFAS contamination that began with creation of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) in November. Since then, regulators have asked wastewater plants to find PFAS usage among industrial customers and fire departments to find out how much PFAS-laden firefighting foam is in fire department inventories.

The public utility and school water will be tested for 14 different PFAS compounds using what's known as the EPA 537 method.

The testing announcement comes amid debate about the adequacy of federal health guidance on what concentrations of PFAS exposure is safe after the Environmental Protection Agency and the Trump White House blocked the release of a federal health study that emails show was poised to recommend lower levels.

Public health advocates and university researchers say the Environmental Protection Agency health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS and PFOA -- two of numerous PFAS chemicals -- is not based on the most recent scientific studies and does not adequately protect mothers and unborn children.

In January, the DEQ established a new cleanup standard of 70-ppt for PFAS in groundwater used for drinking water.

Advocates of lower standards in Michigan say they're concerned PFAS testing guidance issued by the DEQ in materials distributed by the Michigan Department of Education gives the impression that anything under the EPA's 70-ppt level is safe.

A PFAS FAQ document distributed by the DOE calls the EPA level "protective of everyone, especially pregnant women, young children, and the elderly."

"They're leading people to believe that anything below 70-ppt is fine for school children," said Anthony Spaniola, a Troy attorney who owns a cottage on Van Etten Lake, which is polluted with PFAS from Wurtsmith Air Force Base.

Spaniola said assurances that 70-ppt is an acceptable safety threshold in drinking water is "directly at odds" with recommendations by Harvard University public health researcher Philippe Grandjean, who studied immune system impacts on people exposed to PFAS and concluded a safe level is closer to 1-ppt.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reportedly ready to recommend safety thresholds as low as 12-ppt for some PFAS chemicals, according to emails about the blocked PFAS report.

Next week in Washington, D.C., Heidi Grether, Michigan DEQ director, is taking part in a PFAS communication panel at the EPA's PFAS Summit.

In a statement, MPART director Carol Isaacs said that while "acceptable PFAS exposure levels continue to be debated nationally, the right thing to do here in Michigan is advance our knowledge of this emerging contaminant."

"We will share what we learn with the public and are prepared to advise communities, if necessary, on steps they can take to reduce PFAS levels in their water supplies."