![]() ![]() The cost of ridding the nation’s water supplies of PFAS could be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. While their water-resistant properties are convenient, the chemicals have been linked to adverse health effects in humans, such as compromised immune systems, thyroid disorders, and kidney and testicular cancers, among other issues.Ĭhemical companies in the United States, which knew in the 1970s that PFAS were building up in Americans’ bloodstreams and that the chemicals could have serious health consequences in humans, manufactured PFAS for decades without alerting the public to the potential consequences. PFAS have been used in firefighting foam, rain jackets, pizza boxes, popcorn bags, nonstick pans, couches, and other industrial and consumer products for decades. The federal rule would supersede any state limits that clock in above 4 parts per trillion. In recent years, as the EPA mulled over how strict to make its PFAS standard, some states - including Alaska, Massachusetts, and Vermont - chose to move forward without the agency and propose or set their own limits on forever chemicals. The agency is now soliciting feedback from the public on the proposed rule and aims to finalize it by the end of the year. Besides limiting PFOA and PFOS to 4 parts per trillion, the remaining four types of chemicals would be restricted based on their combined effects. In total, the rule would apply to six commonly used types: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFBS, PFHxS, and GenX. There are more than 12,000 chemicals under the PFAS umbrella, some used more widely than others. This week’s announcement signals that federal regulators’ understanding of the health impacts of exposure to these chemicals is rapidly evolving and that the EPA now appears to believe that virtually no quantity of the chemicals is safe for human consumption. That’s a significant reduction from the level the EPA suggested was safe as recently as 2016, when the agency put out a health advisory that suggested 70 parts per trillion as a maximum level for those types of PFAS in drinking water. The proposed limits would cap two common types of PFAS contamination - the chemicals PFOA and PFOS - in drinking water at just 4 parts per trillion. This marks the first time the EPA has proposed enforceable drinking water limits for PFAS, which are commonly known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down over time and can remain in the environment for years on end. Once finalized, the standards will force states to begin the arduous and expensive process of cleaning their water supplies of some of the class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The Environmental Protection Agency released long-awaited proposed standards for cancer-causing “forever chemicals” in drinking water on Tuesday. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here. This story was originally published by Grist.
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