PFAS in Drinking Water — EPA 2024 National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, Individual MCLs for PFOA/PFOS at 4 ppt (Forever Chemicals, Bioaccumulation) — water/air safety profile
High riskPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of over 14,000 synthetic chemicals characterized by carbon-fluorine bonds that confer extreme environmental persistence, have contaminated the drinking water of an estimated 200+ million Americans according to EWG analysis.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of over 14,000 synthetic chemicals characterized by carbon-fluorine bonds that confer extreme environmental persistence, have contaminated the drinking water of an estimated 200+ million Americans according to EWG analysis. In April 2024, the EPA finalized the first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for PFAS, setting individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) of 4 parts per trillion (ppt, ng/L) for PFOA and PFOS — among the most stringent drinking water standards ever established — and a Hazard Index approach for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and PFBS as a mixture. PFAS are called 'forever chemicals' because the C-F bond (the strongest in organic chemistry, 485 kJ/mol) resists all environmental degradation. Human biomonitoring detects PFAS in >98% of Americans tested. PFOA and PFOS have serum half-lives of 3-8 years and are associated with immunosuppression (reduced vaccine response), thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and ulcerative colitis at population-relevant concentrations.
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