FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Contact: Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
EPA Releases New PFAS “Forever Chemical” Drinking Water Standards
Experts Available For Interview
WASHINGTON, DC -- 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. More than 200 million people in the United States are estimated to currently have unhealthy levels of PFAS in their 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.
Ohio does not currently have any legal limits for PFAS in water, food, waste, or use in consumer products. The state has non-binding health guidelines for 6 chemicals in water, but the EPA limits will be more protective. Ohio recently tested for PFAS in drinking water, with detections in the Dayton area, around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and along the Ohio River. In the short term, the costs of testing and removing PFAS from water will largely be covered by Federal funding, including billions to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants in the Inflation Reduction Act.
In response, Ericka Copeland, Director of Sierra Club Ohio issued the following statement:
“EPA’s strong new limits for these six PFAS chemicals will prevent serious illnesses and save lives in Ohio and beyond. EPA must keep its momentum by issuing rules to limit the production and use of PFAS chemicals and control their cleanup and disposal. In the long term, polluting industries, not the public, must pay the full cost of removing these ‘forever chemicals’ from the environment.”
Mark Favors, military veteran, registered nurse, and Sierra Club member issued the following statement:
“Unfortunately, today’s protections arrived too late for my family members who suffered from kidney damage and cancer after drinking water contaminated by the use of PFAS at an Air Force Base near our home. But the new rules will have far-reaching implications for future generations, particularly people living near military bases. The Department of Defense (DoD) has a long history of failing to honor safer drinking water standards in many states, forcing military service members and forcing the public to drink unhealthy water and water utilities to pay out of pocket for expensive treatment. By swiftly implementing and enforcing the proposed PFAS standards, the EPA can mandate DoD follow these standards and ultimately prevent future illness, even death, for many Americans.”
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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.”