Why are tiny amounts of 'forever chemicals' in water causing big debates?
EPA's Unprecedented Interim Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some chemicals called PFAS don’t break down and can get into water. The EPA now says even super tiny amounts of two of them (PFOA and PFOS) are unsafe, but we can’t even measure those tiny amounts with current tools.
Surprising Findings
The EPA’s new safety level for PFOA is 1,000 times below the lowest level we can measure.
Regulatory standards are typically set at levels that can be monitored and enforced. Setting a limit that’s currently unmeasurable contradicts standard regulatory practice.
Practical Takeaways
Check your local water report for PFAS testing, but understand it may not detect levels near the new EPA advisory.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some chemicals called PFAS don’t break down and can get into water. The EPA now says even super tiny amounts of two of them (PFOA and PFOS) are unsafe, but we can’t even measure those tiny amounts with current tools.
Surprising Findings
The EPA’s new safety level for PFOA is 1,000 times below the lowest level we can measure.
Regulatory standards are typically set at levels that can be monitored and enforced. Setting a limit that’s currently unmeasurable contradicts standard regulatory practice.
Practical Takeaways
Check your local water report for PFAS testing, but understand it may not detect levels near the new EPA advisory.
Publication
Journal
Groundwater
Year
2023
Authors
J. Cotruvo, S. Goldhaber, Andrew J. Cohen
Related Content
Claims (5)
The EPA says it's okay to have up to 2000 tiny bits of PFBS in a trillion drops of drinking water, but only 10 bits of GenX — showing that safety levels for these chemicals vary a lot.
Some chemicals called PAS are found in drinking water, and they can be harmful. Because of new research, the safe limit for these chemicals has been dropped way down—from 70 to just 4 tiny units per liter.
The EPA just made its safety limits for two harmful chemicals in drinking water way stricter — now saying even tiny amounts of PFOA and PFOS can be risky, much lower than before and compared to other countries.
The EPA says super tiny amounts of a chemical called PFOA in water could be harmful, but our current tools can't reliably detect levels that low — we can only measure down to a level 1,000 times higher.
The EPA's super strict safety levels for two chemicals in drinking water are way lower than other countries' rules — like thousands of times lower — so some people question whether the science behind them really adds up.