N.H. EYES STANDARDS FOR BOTTLED WATER
CONCORD, N.H. — Bottle water companies may soon have to ensure their products meet the same standards as public drinking water in New Hampshire for a range of compounds.
The move follows a scare last year in which high levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS, were found in bottled water of a Massachusetts company. The water was sold in stores in New Hampshire and other states. The company closed down in August over what it described as unwarranted attention and changing regulations.
Rep. Renny Cushing, a Hampton Democrat, told a House committee Friday that a bill he is co-sponsoring would amend existing law to require bottlers to meet standards for more than 100 compounds regulated under the the state’s safe drinking water act. Among them are arsenic and MTBE, a petroleumbased gasoline additive that has been used since the 1970s to reduce smogcausing emissions.
It would also require testing for several PFAS chemicals after the state set standards last year limiting one chemical in drinking water to a maximum of 12 parts per trillion and another to 15 parts per trillion.
“It should already be happening,” Cushing said of the proposal, which would apply to in-state bottlers and those from other states registered to sell their water in stores.
“This will just make it clear that you can’t sell bottled water in the state that doesn’t meet the maximum contaminant levels,” he said. “You go to a restaurant. You want bottled and or do you want the tap water? You will know they meet the same standards of healthiness or safeness.”
The only opposition to the proposal came from the bottle water industry, which said a myriad of state regulations could confuse companies and potentially impact the supply of their products in New Hampshire.
In Massachusetts, the state has asked the bottlers to voluntary monitor their supplies for PFAS. The state is proposing to set a drinking water standard of 20 parts per trillion for six PFAS compounds. It held a public hearing on the proposal Thursday.