NEW EPA HEALTH ADVISORY FOR PFOA IS 17,500 TIMES LOWER

PORTSMOUTH, NH, June 15, 2022 -- Today, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new health advisories for four per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances commonly known as “PFAS.” These new EPA health advisories are:

0.004 parts per trillion (ppt) or 4 parts per quadrillion for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

0.02 ppt for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)

2,000 ppt for perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS)

10 ppt for GenX

Hon. Mindi Messmer says: “The health advisories announced today confirm what many scientists have been saying for several years now - there is no level of exposure to these extremely dangerous chemicals. I am grateful that EPA has acted based on the latest peer-reviewed science for four of the more than 12,000 PFAS chemicals known to exist. However, we need the EPA to enact equivalent enforceable standards, not just health advisories, to protect communities around federal Superfund sites and Department of Defense facilities.”

Hon. Nancy Murphy says: “Today’s EPA PFOA and PFAS health advisories confirm that impacted communities have been right to be concerned about the inadequacy of prior federal advisories. To be truly protective of human health, we need enforceable standards. I am happy to hear that the EPA plans to make such a proposal by the end of the year.”

While we appreciate this step for four of the more than 12,000 PFAS chemicals known to exist, people who are being exposed to industrial emissions and contaminated drinking water are paying the price now with elevated rates of cancer and chronic disease. We expect that enforceable standards will be forthcoming equivalent to these health advisories.

Further, these chemicals must be regulated as a class so we can put an end to the whack-a-mole approach to regulation, speed up the process to protect public health, and hold manufacturers and polluters accountable for continuing to use these dangerous chemicals. Recent testing has shown that Saint Gobain Performance Plastics continues to contribute to the largest environmental tragedy in southern NH by emitting both PFOA and PFOS from their plant located in Merrimack.

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Please contact 603-812-7164 or nhsafewateralliance@gmail.com for additional information. Link to EPA Press Release here.