Colorado Springs Utilities has discovered small amounts of an unregulated “forever chemical” in drinking water that goes out to residents from two water-treatment plants.

Forever chemicals are a widespread problem across the United States with more than 15,000 different types, many found in consumer products such as nonstick cookware. The chemical chains are dubbed forever chemicals because they do not break down in the environment. In humans, they can build up in the body, causing negative health effects.

Colorado Springs Utilities found PFBA, a forever chemical, in the finished drinking water at the Phillip Tollefson Water Treatment Plant on Mesa Road and the Ute Pass Water Treatment Plant in Green Mountain Falls in the fall as part of voluntary sampling ahead of mandatory testing, said Annie Berlemann, Utilities’ Fountain Creek Watershed project manager.

Utilities detected the chemical at levels of 2.2 parts per trillion at Tollefson and 3 parts per trillion at Ute Pass, she said. Ute Pass supplies water to Green Mountain Falls and Cascade. Tollefson water is blended through the system, but it roughly supplies an area south of Fillmore Street, west of Circle Drive, east of 26th Street and north of Lake Avenue, said Jennifer Jordan, Utilities spokeswoman.

A part per trillion is akin to a grain of sand in a Olympic-sized swimming pool, an ultra-low level, Berlemann said. As regulations for forever chemicals have tightened, the levels the EPA considers safe have gotten ever lower.

“This has been a challenge for every laboratory and every water provider,” she said, of the changing testing and regulatory requirements.

The Environmental Protection Agency notified Colorado Springs Utilities that water providers will only have to report they have found PFBA in drinking water if it is higher than 5 parts per trillion. The levels of PFBA found at the Colorado Springs Utilities’ plants is below this new reporting standard.

Utilities expects to do more testing to determine the source of the PFBA associated with the production of camera film and other products. It is also a byproduct from chemicals used in stain-resistant fabrics, paper food packaging, and carpet breaking down, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

It is not as well studied as other compounds, but it may have health risks.

“Based on studies in mice and rats, PFBA may be associated with liver, thyroid and developmental health effects. … The department is monitoring the current science and health-related information,” said John Michael with the Water Quality Control Division at the state Department of Public Health and Environment.

To help inform future regulations, the EPA is asking large water providers to test for PFBA and 28 other forever chemicals regularly through 2025, it stated on its website.

An early report from that required data collection shows PFBA has been found at 683 public water systems above at levels above the minimum reporting limit.