EPA limits ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking-water rule
About 100 million people will be exposed to fewer cancer-causing “forever chemicals” under the country’s first-ever drinking water standards for PFAS finalized Wednesday by the EPA, White House officials said.
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized an enforceable 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. The agency set a non-enforceable maximum contaminant level goal for PFOA and PFOS at zero, reflecting research showing that no level of exposure is risk-free from cancer and other diseases.
The rule also sets a limit of 10 ppt on three other categories of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, including perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and “GenX” chemicals. GenX chemicals are made by the Chemours Co., which owns the trade name, to produce fluoropolymers used in semiconductor chips.
The rule also set a limit on mixtures of each of those substances, in addition to perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS).
The substances, known as “forever chemicals” because they remain in the environment indefinitely, are considered carcinogenic and include coatings such as Teflon used in cookware.
They’ve been used in everyday products including nonstick pans, firefighting foam and waterproof clothing. Although some of the most common types are phased out in the U.S., others remain. Water providers will now be forced to remove contamination put in the environment by other industries.
“It’s that accumulation that’s the problem,” said Scott Belcher, a North Carolina State University professor who researches PFAS toxicity. “Even tiny, tiny, tiny amounts each time you take a drink of water over your lifetime is going to keep adding up, leading
to the health effects.”
Up to 6,700 water systems serving about 100 million people, or between 6% and 10% of all the drinking water systems in the US, will be affected by the new standards, senior White House officials said Tuesday in a call with reporters.
PFAS can be found in about 45% of US drinking water sources, including public water systems and private water wells, US Geological Survey scientists estimated in 2023. PFOA and PFOS pose the highest human exposure risk in drinking water, the study found.
Water systems nationwide will have to test for PFAS under the new standards, and then they’ll have five years to purchase, install, and operate PFAS-removal technology if contaminants are detected.
About $1 billion in infrastructure funding will be available to help water systems test for PFAS and remove it. An additional $12 billion is available for general drinking water system improvements, including addressing emerging contaminants such as PFAS, the officials said.
“The first national drinking water standards for PFAS marks a significant step towards delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice, protecting communities, and securing clean water for people across the country,” Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a statement.
The World Health Organization in 2022 issued less stringent guidelines for the substances. The WHO’s draft guidance recommends a limit of 100 parts per trillion (ppt) of either PFOA or PFOS in drinking water. It also recommends a total cap of 500 ppt for combinations of up to 30 PFAS.
Water utilities will be required to monitor the PFAS, reduce levels exceeding the proposed limits, and notify their customers if the PFAS levels are above the EPA’s limits. The limits, the lowest level many laboratories can reliably detect, are tighter than any state has proposed.
Technologies such as granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and ion exchange systems can be used to remove PFAS from drinking water, according to the EPA.
The American Water Works Association said in 2023 that it would be costly for water systems to comply with the limits, citing research suggesting compliance would cost utilities $3.8 billion annually.
The EPA estimated that it could cost between $772 million to $1.2 billion for utilities to comply with the rule, with benefits ranging from $908 million to $1.2 billion.
“The vast majority of these treatment costs will be borne by communities and ratepayers, who are also facing increased costs to address other needs, such as replacing lead service lines, upgrading cybersecurity, replacing aging infrastructure and assuring sustainable water supplies,” AWWA said in a statement about the draft of the rule last year.
UTILITIES WARN OF COST
Utility groups warn the rules will cost tens of billions of dollars each and fall hardest on small communities with fewer resources. Legal challenges are sure to follow.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan says the rule is the most important action the EPA has ever taken on PFAS.
“The result is a comprehensive and life-changing rule, one that will improve the health and vitality of so many communities across our country,” said Regan.
The EPA estimates the rule will cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year, but doing so will prevent nearly 10,000 deaths over decades and significantly reduce serious illnesses.
Environmental and health advocates praised the rule, but said PFAS manufacturers knew decades ago the substances were dangerous yet hid or downplayed the evidence. Limits should have come sooner, they argue.
“Reducing PFAS in our drinking water is the most cost effective way to reduce our exposure,” said Scott Faber, a food and water expert at Environmental Working Group. “It’s much more challenging to reduce other exposures such as PFAS in food or clothing or carpets.”
Over the last year, EPA has periodically released batches of utility test results for PFAS in drinking water. Roughly 16% of utilities found at least one of the two strictly limited PFAS chemicals at or above the new limits. These utilities serve tens of millions of people. The Biden administration, however, expects about 6-10% of water systems to exceed the new limits.
Water providers will generally have three years to do testing. If those test exceed the limits, they’ll have two more years to install treatment systems, according to EPA officials.
Some funds are available to help utilities. Manufacturer 3M recently agreed to pay more than $10 billion to drinking water providers to settle PFAS litigation. And the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes billions to combat the substance. But utilities say more will be needed.
For some communities, tests results were a surprise. Last June, a utility outside Philadelphia that serves nearly 9,000 people learned that one of its wells had a PFOA level of 235 parts per trillion, among the highest results in the country at the time.
“I mean, obviously, it was a shock,” said Joseph Hastings, director of the joint public works department for the Collegeville and Trappe boroughs, whose job includes solving problems presented by new regulations.
The well was quickly yanked offline, but Hastings still doesn’t know the contamination source. Several other wells were above the EPA’s new limits, but lower than those the state of Pennsylvania set earlier. Now, Hastings says installing treatment systems could be a multi-million dollar endeavor, a major expense for a small customer base.
The new regulation is “going to throw public confidence in drinking water into chaos,” said Mike McGill, president of WaterPIO, a water industry communications firm.
Public alarm has increased, too. In Minnesota, for example, Amara’s Law aims to stop avoidable PFAS use. It’s been nearly a year since the law’s namesake, Amara Strande, died from a rare cancer her family blames on PFAS contamination by 3M near her high school in Oakdale, although a connection between PFAS and her cancer can’t be proven. Biden administration officials say communities shouldn’t suffer like Oakdale. 3M says it extends its deepest condolences to Amara’s friends and family.
CAW UNAFFECTED
The new regulations won’t have an impact on how Central Arkansas Water operates, according to company spokesperson Doug Shackelford.
The new limits were “expected, we knew it was coming,” Shackelford said.
“We’re very fortunate at Central Arkansas Water because we have been testing for … all of those ‘forever chemicals’ since 2020,” said Shackelford, who noted the last test was conducted in fall 2023 and PFAS levels came back “non-detectable across the board.”
Central Arkansas Water tests “our clear wells, we test the distribution system, parts of the treatment plant and it’s just not an issue for us. A lot of that goes right back to the work that we do to protect our source water,” which is Lake Maumelle and Lake Winona.
“We own both of those lakes, we protect the areas around those lakes,” said Shackelford. “So we don’t have to deal with many of the issues that a lot of the other water utilities across the country have to deal with because we were able to put protections in place and enforce those protections to ensure that the quality of the water coming from the lakes.”
Central Arkansas Water will continue to test annually for the presence of PFAS.
“Of course, as the rules are enforced and it comes down, if there are changes further down the road we’ll be in compliance for those as well,” said Shackelford.