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Home My WebLink AboutDEQ-CFW_00075172PFOA & PFOS Drinking Water Health Advisories Steps to Limit Exposure A number of options are available to drinking water systems to lower concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in their drinking water supply. In some cases, drinking water systems can reduce concentrations of perfluo- roalkyl substances, including PFOA and PFOS, by closing contaminated wells or changing rates of blending of water sources. Alternatively, public water systems can treat source water with activated carbon or high pressure membrane systems (e.g., reverse osmosis) to remove PFOA and PFOS from drinking water. These treatment systems are used by some public water systems today, but should be carefully designed and maintained to ensure that they are effective for treating PFOA and PFOS. In some communities, entities have provided bottled water to consumers while steps to reduce or remove PFOA or PFOS from drinking water or to establish a new water supply are completed. Aany home drinking water treatment units are certified by independent accredited third party organizations gainst American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards to verify their contaminant removal claims. ISF International (NSF®) has developed a protocol for NSF/ANSI Standards 53 and 58 that establishes iinimum requirements for materials, design and construction, and performance of point -of -use (POU) ctivated carbon drinking water treatment systems and reverse osmosis systems that are designed to reduce FOA and PFOS in public water supplies. The protocol has been established to certify systems (e.g., home ,eatment systems) that meet the minimum requirements. The systems are evaluated for contaminant eduction by challenging them with an influent of 1.5±30% µg/L (total of both PFOA and PFOS) and must educe this concentration by more than 95% to 0.07 µg/L or less (total of both PFOA and PFOS) throughout ie manufacturer's stated life of the treatment system. Product certification to this protocol for testing hom, ,eatment systems verifies that devices effectively reduces PFOA and PFOS to acceptable levels. Between 2000 and 2002, PFOS was voluntarily phased out of production in the U.S. by its primary manufac- turer, 3M. EPA also issued regulations to limit future manufacturing, including importation, of PFOS and its precursors, without first having EPA review the new use. A limited set of existing uses for PFOS (fire re- sistant aviation hydraulic fluids, photography and film products, photomicrolithography process to produce semiconductors, metal finishing and plating baths, component of an etchant) was excluded from these reg- ulations because these uses were ongoing and alternatives were not available. In 2006, EPA asked eight major companies to commit to working toward the elimination of their production and use of PFOA, and chemicals that degrade to PFOA, from emissions and products by the end of 2015. All eight companies have indicated that they have phased out PFOA, and chemicals that degrade to PFOA, from emissions and products by the end of 2015. Additionally, PFOA is included in EPA's proposed Toxic Substance Control Act's Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) issued in January 2015 which will ensure that EPA has an opportunity to review any efforts to reintroduce the chemical into the marketplace and take action, as necessary, to address potential concerns. US Environmental Protection Agency 3 November 2016 EPA 800-F-16-003 DEQ-CFW 00075172 FACT SHEET PFOA & PFOS Drinking Water Health Advisories EPA has not established national primary drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS. EPA is evaluating PFOA and PFOS as drinking water contaminants in accordance with the process required by the Safe Drink- ing Water Act (SDWA). To regulate a contaminant under SDWA, EPA must find that it: (1) may have adverse health effects; (2) occurs frequently (or there is a substantial likelihood that it occurs frequently) at levels of public health concern; and (3) there is a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for people served by public water systems. EPA included PFOA and PFOS among the list of contaminants that water systems are required to monitor under the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 3) in 2012. Results of this monitoring effort are updated regularly and can be found on the publicly -available National Contaminant Occurrence Database (NCOD) (https://www.epa.gov/dwucmr/occurrence-data-unregulated-contaminant-monitoring- rule#3). In accordance with SDWA, EPA will consider the occurrence data from UCMR 3, along with the peer reviewed health effects assessments supporting the PFOA and PFOS Health Advisories, to make a reg- ulatory determination on whether to initiate the process to develop a national primary drinking water regu- lation. In addition, EPA plans to begin a separate effort to determine the range of PFAS for which an Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment is needed. The IRIS Program identifies and characterizes the health hazards of chemicals found in the environment. IRIS assessments inform the first two steps of the risk assessment process: hazard identification, and dose -response. As indicated in the 2015 IRIS Multi -Year Agenda, the IRIS Program will be working with other EPA offices to determine the range of PFAS com- pounds and the scope of assessment required to best meet Agency needs. More about this effort can be found at https://www.epa.gov/iris/iris-agenda. ese health advisories only apply to exposure scenarios involving drinking water. They are not appropriate use, in identifying risk levels for ingestion of food sources, including: fish, meat produced from livestock at consumes contaminated water, or crops irrigated with contaminated water. he health advisories are based on exposure from drinking water ingestion, not from skin contact or breathing. he advisory values are calculated based on drinking water consumption and household use of drinking water uring food preparation (e.g., cooking or to prepare coffee, tea or soup). To develop the advisories, EPA onsidered non -drinking water sources of exposure to PFOA and PFOS, including: air, food, dust, and consumer roducts. In January 2016 the Food and Drug Administration amended its regulations to no longer allow PFOA nd PFOS to be added in food packaging, which will likely decrease one source of non -drinking water exposure. US Environmental Protection Agency 4 November 2016 EPA 800-F-16-003 DEQ-CFW 00075173 • EPA's Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/ grou nd-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-health-advisories-pfoa-and-pfos • PFOA and PFOS data collected under EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule are available: httos://www.epa.gov/dwucmr/occurre nce-clata-un regu lated-contaminant-monitoring-rule • EPA's stewardship program for PFAS related to TSCA: https:Hwww.epa.gov/assessing-and-manaQing- chemicals-under-tsca/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfass-under-tsca • EPA's research activities on PFASs can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/chemical-researchl perfluorinated-chemical-pfc-research • The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's Perflourinated Chemicals and Your Health webpage at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/PFC/ US Environmental Protection Agency 141iEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency November 2016 EPA 800-F-16-003 DEQ-CFW 00075174