What are PFAS?

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances, can be found in everything from cell phones and pizza boxes to Teflon pans and carpet cleaners. The main attraction of this chemical is the fact that it acts as a resistor to high temperatures, oil, and water. With such a wide range of repellant abilities it’s no wonder the chemical is used in such a variety of materials.

In recent years though, adverse health effects have been documented and linked back to PFAS.  Various illnesses, such asbirth defects, cancer, adverse liver and thyroid effects, and immune system dysfunctions, have all been shown to occur in humans and animals exposed to high levels of the chemical. An additional study also suggested that exposure to PFAS may lower children’s response to vaccinations.

PFAS in Our Water

While the recent scrutiny of the chemical has caused its use in many products to be phased out in the U.S., the history of its utilization as well as its disposal still have a lasting impact on many people’s drinking water. In the past, for example, PFAS were disposed of in watersheds, areas of land that separates waters flowing to different bodies of water. Locations such as these make transmittal of chemicals even more far reaching as they’ll be dispersed along the entire water system, potentially infecting an entire river system. 

The study shows how vast the affected area is, with three quarters of the systems containing more than federally recommended PFAS levels found in 13 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

High-Risk Zones 

In an effort to locate potential sources of higher levels of contamination, the study focused on facilities most likely to use PFAS for fire-suppression in addition to wastewater treatment plants.  Four different kinds of sites were highlighted: manufacturing sides, military sites, wastewater treatment plants, and airports.

EPA Regulations

The recent rise in PFAS awareness has led to tighter regulations regarding the chemical’s exposure in public drinking water. In the past few months the EPA has decreased the recommended safety levels of the PFAS related substances PFOA and PFOS to 70 parts per trillion. These steps were taken as more information about the adverse health effects of PFAS exposure were highlighted in the research community.

Co-author of the study Philippe Grandjean claims that the new safety levels aren’t nearly strict enough. “I have used the EPA’s calculations,” Grandjean says, “their methodology to calculate where an exposure limit should be to protect against the adverse effects … [and] I end up with a limit which is about 100-fold lower than what EPA is now applying.”

According to Grandjean then, the safety levels should be 70 parts per 100 trillion rather than 70 parts per trillion. Despite this disconcerting difference in opinion, the EPA says it is taking steps to ensure the population’s safety if the PFAS are becoming a health threat. The government agency is currently “evaluation PFOA and PFOS as drinking water contaminants in accordance with the process required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).”

In order for the EPA to regulate the contaminant under the SDWA, they must find that it meets three stipulations:

1. It may have adverse health effects
2. It occurs frequently (or there is a substantial likelihood that it occurs frequently) at levels of public health concern
3. There is a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for people serve by public water systems

Additional EPA Measures

The EPA has also included PFOA and PFOS on the list of contaminants water systems must monitor under the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3). Data collected from this monitoring effort in addition to peer reviewed health effects assessments will be used to make a regulatory determination on initiating the process to developa as national primary drinking water regulation. 

A separate effort has been set in motion to determine a range of PFAS that require an IRIS assessment, or Integrated Risk Information System assessment. The IRIS program helps to identify whether a chemical should be considered a hazard as well as the chemical’s appropriate dose-response, or the amount required to present a physical response in an affected organism. 

More information regarding the EPA’s actions and other facts regarding PFAS can be found on their PFOA & PFOS Drinking Water Health Advisories Fact Sheet.