Federal agency puts tighter limits on PFAS contamination

June 23, 2022 | Peter Currier
pcurrier@thereminder.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new advisories for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that dramatically decreases what is considered to be the safe levels of consumption of the “forever chemicals.”

For more than a decade the EPA has looked into and released updated guidance for what levels of PFAS chemicals are considered safe for human consumption. In 2016 the agency issued an updated health advisory for safe consumption of perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoro-octane sulfonate (PFOS), lowering the safe level to 70 parts per trillion (ppt) in drinking water. The new guidance from the EPA lowers that number even further, in what may be an acknowledgment that the chemicals are even more harmful to human health than previously thought.

“Human studies have found associations between PFOA and/or PFOS exposure and effects on the immune system, the cardiovascular system, development (e.g., decreased birth weight), and cancer,” said the agency’s release of the new advisory. “These data and draft analyses, which were released publicly in November 2021, are currently undergoing EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) review.”

The new advisory levels that are based on the agency’s preliminary findings lowers the federally recommended levels of PFOA and PFOS to 0.004 ppt and 0.04 ppt, respectively. The levels now recommended by the EPA could be reliably measured in parts-per-quadrillion.

The EPA also for the first time released final health advisories for “GenX’’ chemicals and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS). Both types of chemicals have been used as a sort of replacement for PFOA and PFOS, which can be found in everyday products like nonstick and stain-resistant cookware, food packaging, and firefighting foam.

The EPA set the advisory for GenX chemicals at 10 ppt, and PFBS at 2,000 ppt.

Westfield has infamously faced contamination problems from various PFAS chemicals in the water supply, which has largely been blamed on the use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) as a fire suppressant at Barnes Air National Guard Base.

At-large Westfield City Councilor Kristen Mello, founder of forever chemicals awareness group Westfield Residents Advocating for Themselves, said that the new advisories in some ways do not go far enough, but that they are still a massive step in the right direction. The advisory isn’t legally enforceable, but it does establish that the federal agency wants to see levels in drinking water to be far lower than they are in some places.

Mello pointed out that the Massachusetts state standard right now is 20 ppt, and Westfield has met that standard in recent years.

“But now the EPA has put on paper that they know the toxicity of these chemicals is so high that they are revising it to parts-per-quadrillion,” said Mello.

The new advisory also helps to frame into context how far Westfield has come in dealing with its PFAS problem, and how far it has yet to go. In 2016, when the EPA last updated its advisory, Well 7 in Westfield was testing at 140 ppt, double what the EPA recommended as the maximum PFAS level that year. Now that number is below 20 ppt, but the new EPA advisory means that Westfield is multiple orders of magnitude above what the agency now recommends.

The problem now, Mello said, is that the city does not have the testing capability for levels that low, or the filtration capability to get to levels that low.

She also said she believes the recommendations for GenX and PFBS are too high at 10 ppt and 200 ppt, but that she is happy to see a recommendation be put on paper in the first place.

“It isn’t nearly enough, but at least it is something,” said Mello.

Further testing of the extent of PFAS contamination beyond the water in Westfield concluded last week. Conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), testing was done in 80 Westfield homes to see where else forever chemicals may be showing up. ATSDR took samples of dust, vacuum cleaner bags and soil to test for PFAS substances, with which the agency hopes to determine the actual source of the chemicals.

Peter Kowalski, an environmental health scientist for the ATSDR, spoke to the City Council on June 16.

“We know that communities who have had past contamination of public water supply often results in significant exposure to the residents or community members,” said Kowalski. “What we have been doing for the past 10 days is to learn more about non-drinking water exposures to PFAS.”

Kowalski said that residents participating in the study also wore specialized wrist bands that he said can be used to determine the amount of PFAS chemicals they have been exposed to. The participants will receive their results, along with a summarized report to be published, within a few months.

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