Industry Files Legal Challenge of New Stringent Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFAS Chemicals

Many NASF members recall EPA’s recent issuance of nationwide drinking water lifetime health advisories for:

• PFOA -- 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt) (or 4 parts per quadrillion),
• PFOS – 0.02 ppt (or 20 parts per quadrillion),
• GenX – 10 ppt
• PFBS – 2,000 ppt.

These health advisory levels are not regulations and are not considered legally enforceable standards, but they are problematic for several reasons. They are significant as setting a benchmark for further enforceable regulatory limits for PFAS, and some state and local authorities may find it easy to “copy and paste” the advisories into regulatory limits.

A petition was recently filed by the American Chemistry Council to review the advisories in federal court, with concerns ranging from the fact they are below analytical detection levels and are likely to lead unnecessarily to increased alarm from the public regarding potential risks of PFAS.   In addition, there are concerns regarding how the advisory levels may impact drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS that EPA is now developing. 

NASF will continue to monitor the developments on the legal challenge to the new lifetime health advisories and work with drinking water agencies, EPA officials and industry stakeholders on a drinking water standard for PFOA and PFOS. 

If you have any questions or would like additional information on these drinking water health advisories, please contact Jeff Hannapel or Christian Richter with NASF at jhannapel@thepolicygroup.com or crichter@thepolicygroup.com. 

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This update is courtesy of the National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF). For more information or to become a member, visit nasf.org.