Activists, experts celebrate new EPA standards on PFAS pollution
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has officially finalized the nation’s first-ever drinking water standards for PFAS pollution.
The standards, years in the making, target six of the most common forms of PFAS and are considered among the most protective in the world.
For PFOA and PFOS — perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, respectively — the maximum contaminant level will be 4 parts per trillion, or roughly one drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized pools.
For perflurorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and GenX Chemicals, the maximum contaminant level is 10 ppt, along with any mixture of PFNA, PFHxs, GenX Chemicals and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS).
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While most municipal water systems have protocols in place to monitor PFAS levels, private wells are unmonitored. And despite those protocols, the EPA estimates between 6% and 10% of all municipal water systems across the country will need to make upgrades to meet these standards.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan championed the historic announcement as a big step toward fighting a problem that has plagued communities “for too long.” U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, who has led the push for PFAS remediation and regulation, applauded the announcement, saying simply, “Every person deserves access to safe, clean drinking water.”
Activists and experts are happy, as well.
“This is a monumental victory for the American people,” Tony Spaniola, co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network, said in a statement. “These PFAS drinking water standards will save the lives of countless Americans for generations to come.”
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PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a large group of compounds first developed in the 1940s and incorporated into all sorts of products for waterproofing and heat resistance.
Decades later, research showed that PFAS compounds take a long time to break down organically and can build up in the human body, causing serious health problems including cancer. Melanie Benesh, the vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, says even at tiny amounts, PFAS has proven to be extremely toxic.
“It’s hard to overstate the health impact of these new rules,” Benesh said in a statement. “Getting these PFAS out of our drinking water will prevent thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of cases of serious harms like cardiovascular disease, bladder cancer, strokes, heart attacks and reproductive harms like preeclampsia and low birth weights.”
The chemical compounds are so widespread that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 99% of all Americans have a detectable level of PFAS in their bodies. EWG says there are more than 5,000 confirmed PFAS-contaminated sites across the United States, including at least one in each of the 50 states, Washington D.C. and two American territories.
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Before the EPA announcement, 10 states, including Michigan, set their own drinking water standards. The federal regulations make those standards even tighter.
The White House also announced that $1 billion in federal funding will be allocated through the 2022 infrastructure law to help address PFAS contamination in municipal water systems and private wells.
According to The Hill, two lawsuits have been recently settled with two of the largest PFA polluters. 3M is expected to pay more than $10 billion and DuPont and its subsidiaries are expected to pay $1.2 billion for damages.
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