Here’s What You Need to Know About PFAS
Some Pace® customers are very familiar with a class of emerging contaminants called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Others soon will be thanks to a plethora of new and existing state and federal programs designed to mitigate the negative impact of these compounds on human health and the environment. This article will provide a quick primer on PFAS, why they matter, and the regulations that may impact your organization.
What Are PFAS?
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS, are a diverse group of synthetic compounds valued for their useful properties, such as a resistance to heat, water, and oil. For decades, these chemicals have been used in the production of hundreds of industrial and consumer products, including non-stick surfaces, textiles, carpets, firefighting foams, and more.
PFAS are bioaccumulative, meaning they build up in the bloodstream and tissue. Research has found links between two common PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA, and a number of health problems, such as chronic kidney disease, thyroid issues, low fertility rates, and certain types of cancers. It’s important to remember that PFOA and PFOS are just two of the over 5,000 PFAS compounds known today. Some put the number closer to 12,000. Regardless of the actual count, PFAS are all similarly structured, so it’s generally believed that they all have the potential to adversely impact human health and the environment. The question is: To what degree?
The U.S. EPA is assessing the toxicity of certain PFAS that are or have been widely used in industry and consumer products, using new and existing data. Toxicity assessments have been completed for five PFAS compounds: PFOA, PFOS, GenX (HFPO-DA), PFBS, and PFBA. Assessments are underway for PFHxA, PFHxS, PFNA, and PFDA. These toxicity assessments provide valuable data that the EPA uses to issue health advisories for the nation’s public water systems.
While health advisories are not enforceable limits, they may inform state and federal-level legislative and control efforts. Based on revised assessments, the EPA recently lowered its health advisories for PFOA and PFOS from 70 ppt (parts per trillion), individually or combined, to 0.004 ppt for PFOA and 0.02 ppt for PFOS. The advisories for PFOA and PFOS are classified as interim health advisories because the EPA has already announced its intent to enact MCLs (Maximum Contaminant Levels) for these two compounds in drinking water. MCLs are enforceable limits, and by law, the EPA has until March 2023 to propose these levels and an additional 18 months to finalize the rule.
The EPA also issued final health advisories for GenX at 10 ppt and PFBS at 2,000 ppt; however, the agency has not announced any plans to propose MCLs for these two compounds at this time. As of December 2022, the EPA had completed toxicity assessments for PFBS and PFBA and is working on assessments for PFHxA, PFHxS, PFNA, and PFDA. The results of these assessments may also lead to health advisories and further regulatory efforts.
On-demand webinar: Now What? Insight Into the New PFAS Health Advisories
How Are PFAS Regulated?
PFAS are surprisingly unregulated at the federal level given how much is known, or at least strongly suspected, about their adverse effects on human health. Remember, health advisories are guidelines, not enforceable limits. The EPA’s upcoming MCLs for PFOA and PFOS will be the first federally enforceable limits, and they only apply to finished drinking water.
Many states have taken matters into their own hands, but limits and chemicals covered can vary widely between states. Even the type of limits can be confusing with a variety of acronyms used, such as AL (action level), CL (cleanup level), RL (reporting level), and so on. Furthermore, some states regulate drinking water, while others focus more on non-potable waters, such as ground and surface water that may be used as a drinking water source. Some extend their focus beyond water to soil. States like California, Maine, New York, and Washington are even starting to issue bans on PFAS in products such as food packaging.
Need to get up-to-speed quickly on PFAS regulations in your state? Reach out to us to schedule a technical and regulatory briefing.
While states are ahead of the curve when issuing enforceable limits on PFAS, that does not mean that the EPA has been sitting idly by. The 2021-2024 PFAS Strategic Roadmap outlined several actions the agency planned to take to research, regulate, and remediate PFAS. As noted already, issuing MCLs for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water is one that stands to have a significant impact on many Pace® customers. Another is the agency’s intention to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), otherwise known as Superfund.
CERCLA gives the U.S. EPA broad authority to respond directly to actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances. Once PFOA and PFOS are designated hazardous under CERCLA, businesses will be required to report on releases that meet or exceed the reportable quantity assigned to these substances. The EPA then has the authority to respond directly, e.g., issue cleanup orders, in the event of a release. CERCLA also grants the EPA the power to address existing contamination, and property owners can be held accountable for contamination they didn’t cause if a site is designated a Superfund site.
One more program worth covering here in some detail is the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR 5. This program is designed to collect data on contaminants suspected to be present in the nation’s public water systems but that do not yet have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The EPA is authorized to issue a new list of 30 contaminants every five years. Of the 30 contaminants in UCMR 5, 29 are PFAS. (Spot number 30 was reserved for the metal lithium.) Under UCMR 5, all public water systems (PWS) serving more than 3300 people plus a randomly selected set of 800 smaller systems will be required to begin testing for these compounds at entry points to their drinking water distribution systems in 2023.
While UCMR 5 is a program that focuses on drinking water, the results of this program may impact a wide range of other types of Pace® customers, particularly those in industry and wastewater treatment. As testing starts to show elevated levels of PFAS in drinking water, municipalities across the country will start looking for the source of the contamination. Since wastewater treatment does not remove PFAS and can convert “PFAS precursors” into terminal PFAS, drinking water quality managers might look at wastewater at a source of PFAS contamination. Others will look to local industry as the source of PFAS in the local water supply.
Beyond the programs just mentioned, the EPA is also leveraging other programs, including NPDES permitting, Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15, TRI, TSCA, and more, to better understand how industry contributes to PFAS contamination. To learn more about these programs, download our Industry Guide to PFAS Regulations.
Testing for PFAS
Pace® can support your compliance and information-gathering needs by testing a wide variety of matrices for targeted PFAS as well as total organic fluorine levels. These matrices include drinking water, non-potable liquids (groundwater, surface water, landfill leachate, etc.), soil and sediment, biota (plant and animal tissue), stack emissions, commercial and industrial products, AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam), fluorinated plastics, and more. While many labs can analyze drinking water, analyzing solid samples or liquids with dissolved, suspended, or colloidal solids requires more advanced techniques. You can learn more about the various test methods we offer on PFAS.com.
Draft Method 1633 is rapidly becoming the go-to method for non-drinking water matrices. To learn more about this method, what’s changed in the latest version, and how it can be used, watch our on-demand webinar: A Deep Dive into the Third Draft of Method 1633 for PFAS
If your analysis is for compliance, (e.g., UCMR 5 or state-level programs), it's also important to choose a lab partner that is certified or accredited by the appropriate organization or governing board. Pace® is certified/accredited by TNI NELAC, ISO, DOD, DOE, and in every state with a PFAS lab certification program. We’re also approved for specific programs, such as UCMR 5, and have been chosen by the EPA and DOD to participate in test-method validation of the new methods under development.
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