FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Contact: Christy McGillivray, 808 726 5325
christy.mcgillivray@sierraclub.org
Sarah Tresedder, 906 869 4167
sarah.tresedder@sierraclub.org
EPA Releases New PFOS and PFOA Drinking Water Standards, extending 2020-era Protections Enacted in Michigan
Detroit, MI -- Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its first-ever legal standard for two PFAS “forever chemicals” -- PFOS and PFOA -- proposing a limit of no more than 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for each chemical in drinking water. EPA is also setting a combined standard for the total hazard posed by four other PFAS chemicals -- PFHxS, PFBS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA or GenX -- in drinking water. This news follows recent research showing that freshwater fish from the Great Lakes contain alarmingly high levels of PFAS. Eating one Great Lakes fish could be the equivalent of drinking PFAS-contaminated water for a month. Furthermore, more than 1.5 million Michiganders have until recently been drinking PFAS-contaminated water. EPA estimates the new standard, when enacted in 2024, will save billions of dollars in healthcare costs per year and prevent death and serious diseases like cancer, heart attacks, and strokes.
The announcement is a rare move for EPA which has not updated drinking water standards for any chemicals for more than two decades. In the short term, the costs of testing and removing PFAS from water will largely be covered by billions of dollars of Inflation Reduction Act funding directed toward drinking water treatment, including $5 billion for PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
The announcement is a clear acknowledgment that PFAS chemicals are more potent than previously believed. Last summer, EPA dramatically lowered its lifetime health advisory levels for PFOS and PFOA from 70 parts per trillion combined to 20 and 4 parts per quadrillion, respectively. When finalized, the new drinking water standard for PFOS and PFOA will be the lowest limit for any chemical the EPA regulates in water. While the proposed limits are a notable improvement from no limit, they are still more than 250 to 1,000 times higher than the amount EPA says is “safe” or ideal in water.
In response, Christy McGillivray, the Political and Legislative Director for Sierra Club Michigan issued the following statement:
EPA’s announcement of the hazards posed by small amounts of PFAS ingestion confirms the wisdom of actions in Michigan to limit the public’s exposure to PFAS–including our Attorney General Dana Nessel’s fight to hold corporate polluters accountable for the cost of dealing with PFAS pollution. Michigan legislators now must lead the way again and remove legacy state-level barriers, like repealing our “no stricter than federal” law, so that we can continue to limit public exposure to PFAS. Michigan legislators and regulators must continue to push for other state level protections against PFAS, which are faster to implement, and can be more tailored to state-level concerns, and therefore a better way to prevent pollution and protect health.
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About PFAS Chemicals
PFAS, or per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” are synthetic chemicals that never break down in the environment and are linked to a variety of health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, damaged immune systems, and harm to the liver, thyroid, and pancreatic function. More than 200 million people in the United States are estimated to currently have unhealthy levels of PFAS in their drinking water, and nearly every American has some amount of PFAS in their bodies—even newborns. This contamination is global in scope and primarily driven by the military’s use of PFAS-based firefighting foam, manufacturing companies like 3M, DuPont, and Chemours releasing chemical waste into the air, waterways, and sewage, and the widespread use of PFAS chemicals in consumer products like Teflon pans, rain gear, and more. To date, the EPA has been slow to restrict the ongoing production, use, and disposal of PFAS chemicals, and because of the weakness and deliberate carve-outs of the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, nearly every industry that currently produces or uses PFAS is able to conceal that from the public by classifying them as “trade secrets.”