PARK CITY, Utah — A certain type of ski wax is now banned in Park City after “forever chemicals” were found in the city’s drinking water.
“It’s a forever chemical, meaning once it's in our water, it’ll never really go away,” said Carolyn Wawra, the executive director of Recycle Utah.
Fluorinated wax or “fluoro-wax” is typically used for racing or high-performance alpine and cross-country skiing. Over the last few years, local competitions and even the 2022 Olympics banned the wax because of environmental and health concerns.
“They are water repellant, they’re very effective at what they do — breaking friction on snow,” explained Richard Hodges, the Nordic director at the White Pine Touring Center.
Last month, the city banned fluoro-wax in a source water protection ordinance after PFAS compounds were discovered in groundwater wells.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these compounds can decrease fertility, cause developmental delays in children, and increase the risk of cancer.
“These levels are so low that they’re in the parts per trillion ranges,” said Michelle de Haan, Park City's water quality and treatment manager. “So recognize we’re at seven part per trillion, which is barely measurable by instrumentation today.”
Park City is encouraging skiers to ditch the wax and drop it off at the White Pine Touring Center or the Recycle Utah organization so it can be properly disposed of.
“Something like ski wax, it is so nasty. The end of the story is just incineration,” said Wawra. “So far this season I’d say it's about 80 pounds of wax so far.”
Recycle Wax is collecting fluoro-wax until April 15.
“There’s a lot of environmentally-conscious people here and we want to do everything we can to try and remove that substance from the environment,” said de Haan.
De Haan said there’s not really a punishment in place for people who choose to ski with it, however, the city plans to increase signage and education reminding locals and visitors of the risks.
