Hello, blog! It’s been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for my absence. In these past six months, a few notable events have happened with PFAS, the most notable of which is the new EPA advisory limits.
On June 15th, 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new drinking water advisory limits for four specific PFAS: PFOA (0.004 parts per trillion), PFOS (0.02 parts per trillion), GenX (10 parts per trillion), and PFBS (2,000 parts per trillion). The previous 2016 advisory limits encompassed PFOA and PFOS only, limiting the sum of their concentrations in drinking water to 70 ppt. Thus, these new advisory limits are up to 17,000 times more sensitive than before. The two new PFAS, GenX and PFBS, are modern industrial alternatives to PFOA and PFOS. For the first time, the EPA is taking newer PFAS into account, and warning against their consumption. Additionally, the EPA has introduced $1 billion dollars of grant funding as part of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to mitigate the impact of PFAS on a state level.
In my opinion, the EPA’s vastly more sensitive advisory limits can be seen as controversial. The EPA’s new advisory limits are thousands of times lower below the detection limits of current PFAS testing methods. The rationale behind the EPA’s decision making is that, in reality, no amount of PFAS is safe for drinking water consumption. All things considered, how are people supposed to know if their drinking water is safe for consumption if they can’t even measure its PFAS concentration down to regulatory limits? It’s contradictory to what a concentration limit should be. Additionally, publishing such a limit undermines drinking water testing in states without PFAS regulations. In the absence of an enforceable, national PFAS limit for drinking water, what standard are Americans to rely on in order to check whether their water is safe? Initially, 70 ppt was a very testable limit to check the safety of drinking water. Now, you can’t even tell whether your water is safe or not.
Nevertheless, I am excited that the EPA has taken action to target newer PFAS that pose equally serious risks to our health. The EPA is planning on proposing a national PFAS drinking water regulatory limit in Fall 2022. I look forward to hearing about where the regulatory limit lies, since the EPA has declared that no amount is safe.
Overall, I am ecstatic that a governmental effort to protect the public from PFAS is underway. With the PFAS Action Act of 2021 pending review by the Senate, we are close to reaching a status quo where PFAS is not a massive health concern to all Americans.
Find out more here: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-new-drinking-water-health-advisories-pfas-chemicals-1-billion-bipartisan