By Tony Hagen • editor@newjersey.sierraclub.org
It’s something like the tagline for the “Jaws 2” movie: Just when you thought it was safe to go back and drink the water....
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spoke up and told us no amount of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is safe for human consumption and that it is proposing historically low allowable levels of PFAS in drinking water.
These are much lower than the ones New Jersey established in 2021 for three different branches of the PFAS family: PFOA, PFOS, and PFNA, which were set at 14 parts per trillion (ppt), 13 ppt, and 13 ppt, respectively.
The EPA’s proposed rule, for which the public comment period ended shortly before this newsletter went to press, was for maximum contamination levels (MCL) of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS. The EPA also added other types of PFAS to the proposed rule: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and HFPO-DA (GenX chemicals).
A different formula will be applied to determine safe levels of these compounds, but the PFAS class in general is strongly linked to cancer, compromised immunology, renal complications, and fertility issues, among other health problems.
In making these moves, the EPA is acknowledging that PFAS chemicals are more dangerous than previously thought and manufacturers who use them should be kept on a shorter leash.
One reason PFAS have flown under the radar for so long is that manufacturers have been excused from so-called reporting burdens, and in its multi-pronged strategic plan the EPA intends to reduce these exemptions for PFAS.
The good news in this package of revelations is that the filtering technology we have today—charcoal, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, etc.—is very good at removing these chemicals from the water supply.
What may not be such good news to water systems in New Jersey, where at least 130 water suppliers have received MCL violation notices, is that some filtering systems installed to meet the state’s 2021 MCL requirements may not be capable of achieving the EPA’s new standards, which would supersede those in New Jersey.
In a recent article in NJ Spotlight, it was speculated that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will grant water utilities already in violation of state standards more time to prepare for EPA restrictions, which are not expected to become effective until December 2026.
The EPA is also proposing that public water systems be required to issue public notification to customers within 30 days of violation if PFAS levels exceed MCLs.
DowDuPont, formerly DuPont, has known since at least the 1960s that PFAS are highly toxic, but it has been up to the public and the regulatory establishment to stop them. That has proved to be a very slow process. PFAS have been around since before Sputnik—more than 70 years—and we are only just getting around to regulating them and protecting the public against exposure.
A 2015 article from The Intercept gets to the nub of this problem: “In America, killer chemicals are essentially innocent until proven guilty.”
Resources
EPA Strategic Map: bit.ly/3H0s4yL
NJ and PFAS: bit.ly/2FYu4sF
NJ Water Watch: bit.ly/3URrGbo