‘Forever chemicals’ found in drinking water across the US pose health risks even in small amounts, EPA says

A discarded water bottle at the former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images The EPA has warned that PFAS chemicals pose health risks even at low levels of exposure. The agency lowered its recommended limit for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water to nearly undetectable levels.

It also proposed new regulations for next-generation PFAS chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency has set new, near-zero limits for dangerous chemicals found in takeout containers, stain-resistant carpets, and firefighting foam. The chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS were phased out by US regulators years ago, after they were found to affect cancer risk and immune system functioning.

But given the nature of the compounds — nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down over time — they still pose a threat to humans and the environment. The EPA advisory is nonbinding, but it represents an “epic” shift in regulation, Terrence Collins, director of the Institute for Green Science at Carnegie Mellon University, told Insider. The Wednesday announcement not only proposed a much lower limit for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, but also addressed next-generation compounds that have been used to replace the two phased-out chemicals.

“Nature can’t deal with these compounds, and so this is a long overdue wake up warning that we’ve got to stop doing this,” Collins said. “It’s most unfortunate because the compounds in this class have really good technical performance, and typically you can make money with them. But they just have absolutely awful health, environment, and fairness performance.

” New limits consider the most vulnerable populationsThe new EPA guidelines set limits on PFOA and PFOS that are literally thousands of times lower than past regulations. Drinking water advisories issued in 2016 set the upper limit for the chemicals at 70,000 parts per quadrillion. Even then, PFAS were not federally regulated, and tap water testing in multiple US cities found total PFAS levels (including PFOA, PFOS, and similar compounds) exceeded the recommended limit, according to the Environmental Working Group.

The drinking water that once fell within the EPA’s safe zone for PFAS is now thought to pose health risks as well, especially for vulnerable populations including children, pregnant people, and people with compromised immune systems. Exposure to PFOA, PFOS, and other “legacy” chemicals in the PFAS cluster has been linked to testicular, kidney, liver, and pancreatic cancers, according to the Environmental Working Group. Prenatal exposure can also affect birth weight and early development, including childhood immunity, a 2020 study in Toxicology found.

The EPA has lowered the health risk threshold for PFOA to 4 parts per quadrillion and PFOS to 20 parts per quadrillion — levels so low they may not be detectable. In 2020, tap water in dozens of US cities had total PFAS levels exceeding those limits. As for the chemicals that have been created to replace older PFAS, they’ve also been linked to liver and kidney damage.

The EPA recommended a limit of 2,000 parts per trillion for the compound PFBS in water that’s safe to drink. Only 10 parts per trillion of HFPO (also known as GenX) was considered safe under the same advisory, because the compound may also increase the risk of certain cancers. Hilary Brueck contributed reporting.

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