Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

Actionable level for PFOA in drinking water lowered

by Jessica Morrison
January 16, 2017 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 95, Issue 3

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Shutterstock
Photo shows human hand holding a glass under a running water faucet.
Credit: Shutterstock

DuPont and its spin-off Chemours must further limit the perfluorinated chemical exposure of residents near a chemical manufacturing plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., under a revised deal with EPA. The facility formerly used perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for decades. Through a recent update to a 2009 consent order with EPA, the companies must supply an alternate source of drinking water for residents when PFOA is measured at 70 parts per trillion in their piped-in drinking water. This lowers a threshold for such action that was set in 2009 of 400 ppt PFOA in drinking water and follows the agency’s 2016 lifetime health advisory limit for the chemical. The updated drinking water order comes amid ongoing litigation between the companies and residents of Parkersburg. The plaintiffs, with claims that tainted water has harmed their health, have brought 3,500 lawsuits against the chemical manufacturers. PFOA was once used in the manufacture of nonstick materials. Though U.S. manufacture of PFOA has stopped, the perfluorinated chemical is environmentally persistent and has been linked to disease in people.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.