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5 s,- 07
New limits put on 3M chemicals
Pawlenty's signature on the public -health bill means maximum
concentrations in water will be established.
By Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Last update: May 05, 2007 — 8:21 AM
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has signed a bill that will strengthen the public -health guidelines for
two 3M Co. chemicals found in drinking water in the east metro and that orders state
health officials to study what's known about the chemicals' risk.
Maplewood -based 3M manufactured the chemicals for nearly half a century until 2002 at
its Cottage Grove plant and disposed of some of the wastes in area landfills.
The law requires the Minnesota Department of Health to establish maximum
concentrations in water -- called health -based limits -- by Aug. 1 for PFOA and PFOS,
two of 3M's chemicals formerly used in Scotchgard, Teflon and other products.
The new law, signed Thursday, also requires state health officials to learn more about a
third 3M chemical, PFBA, that was detected early this year in the municipal water of six
communities: Woodbury, Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport, Hastings and South St.
Paul.
3M officials have said that the chemicals are not hazardous to humans at levels found in
the environment.
However, state health officials issued fish consumption advisories last month after high
levels of PFOS were detected in bluegills in Lake Calhoun in south Minneapolis, and in
other fish species in the Mississippi River downstream from the 3M plant.
Human testing proposal
A second legislative proposal related to 3M chemicals is contained in the omnibus
environment, energy and natural resource appropriations bill that the Senate passed
Friday.
One provision of the bill would authorize testing of 3M chemicals in human blood as part
of a new $2 million environmental health tracking system. The pilot program would test
small groups of volunteers for one of several chemicals, including arsenic, mercury, the
3M compounds, and two other hazardous chemicals to be determined by a scientific
panel
After the House approves the omnibus environment bill, which is expected, it will go to
Pawlenty, who has said he will likely sign the bill with some line -item vetoes.
Spokesman Brian McClung said Friday evening that no final decisions had been reached
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regarding specific vetoes. "We are still reviewing the bill," he said.
Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388 • [e-mail]
© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
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