Head of the EPA Says Regulators are Committed to Finalizing National Drinking Water Standards

Sunday, November 12th, 2023 -- 9:00 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said federal regulators are committed to finalizing national drinking water standards for PFAS by the end of the year.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, in March, the federal agency proposed regulations for six PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The EPA is planning to set individual limits for the two most widely studied PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion.

That's more than 17 times lower than Wisconsin's drinking water standard for PFAS of 70 parts per trillion. The EPA wants to regulate a mix of four other PFAS, including PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX chemicals.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said during a stop in Eau Claire on Wednesday that the harmful so-called "forever chemicals" exist in many places where they shouldn’t be found, but the agency doesn’t want to set regulations that appear to target farmers and water systems.

"As we design health-based standards to protect public health and the environment, we're also going to use our discretion to ensure that we focus on those who have put this pollution in the environment, not on our farmers and not on our water utilities," Regan said.

PFAS are a class of thousands of synthetic chemicals widely used by industry since the 1940s. They’ve been used in everyday products like nonstick cookware, stain-resistant clothing, food wrappers and firefighting foam.

The chemicals don’t break down easily in the environment. Research shows high exposure to PFAS has been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, fertility issues, thyroid disease and reduced response to vaccines over time.

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