These chemicals are in the tap water of the majority of Americans, and the Trump administration could decide their fate. No, not fluoride, the cavity-fighter that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s health secretary pick, wants out of public drinking water. Rather, they’re harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. For all of Mr. Kennedy’s talk, and his contentious views on fluoride, larger battles loom over chemicals in the water we drink. Public health advocates worry that federal efforts to protect the public against PFAS and replace lead pipes could unravel under a Trump presidency.

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