With the number of PFAS-contaminated sites growing to over 900 in the United States, the U.S. EPA is facing pressure to establish drinking water standards. These PFAS sites impact the drinking water of nearly 25 million people living in the country.

Despite the urgency, the U.S. EPA has extended the due date to receive comments on the preliminary decision related to establishing drinking water standards for two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS. The new due date for comments is now June 10, 2020. 

In late February, the U.S. EPA announced a proposal to regulate PFAS chemicals in drinking water. Through the U.S. EPA’s proposal, both PFOS and PFOA will be regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). After the regulatory determination is finalized, the U.S. EPA will start the process of creating a national primary drinking water regulation for PFOA and PFOS. Currently, a health advisory level of no more than 70 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFAS in drinking water is recommended by the U.S. EPA. Leading scientists and health professionals believe this advisory level is too high. 

Not waiting for the U.S. EPA to act, many states are using their authority to establish tougher drinking water requirements than the U.S. EPA’s current Health Advisory level of 70 ppt. These states include California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont. 

Merit is a leading national PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices, including biosolids and sludge. Analytical methods performed by Merit for PFAS include drinking water by EPA 533, EPA 537.1, and EPA 537 rev. 1.1 and soil, wastewater, groundwater, and surface water by ASTM D7979 with Isotopic Dilution.