DuPont, EPA agree to tighter PFOA standard

Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the drinking water of residents living near DuPont's manufacturing site near Parkersburg, W.Va., will be lowered through a recent agreement reached by EPA and the company. The consent order sets an interim screening level of 0.5 ppb for PFOA in public or private drinking water systems around the site and replaces a 150-ppb threshold established by EPA in 2002. It does not address PFOA levels in water near other DuPont plants. Under the order, DuPont will offer alternative drinking water or treatment for public or private water users living near the West Virginia plant if the level of PFOA detected in drinking water is equal to or greater than the revised screening level. EPA says the lowering of the so-called action level is based on new data from animal studies and higher than normal levels of PFOA in blood serum detected in a recent study of 70,000 people living near the plant, which was conducted as part of a class-action settlement between DuPont and area residents. DuPont stresses that there are no human health effects known to be caused by PFOA, although studies of the chemical continue.