Hi all…The USEPA has released health advisories for the perfluorinated compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). As far as I am aware, there are no advisories, guidelines, or standards in Canada at this time. They are very difficult to remove from drinking water.
Bill
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Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS
“EPA has established health advisories for PFOA and PFOS based on the agency’s assessment of the latest peer-reviewed science to provide drinking water system operators, and state, tribal and local officials who have the primary responsibility for overseeing these systems, with information on the health risks of these chemicals, so they can take the appropriate actions to protect their residents. EPA is committed to supporting states and public water systems as they determine the appropriate steps to reduce exposure to PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. As science on health effects of these chemicals evolves, EPA will continue to evaluate new evidence. To provide Americans, including the most sensitive populations, with a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure to PFOA and PFOS from drinking water, EPA has established the health advisory levels at 70 ng/L (parts per trillion).“ [EPA’s health advisories are non-enforceable and non-regulatory and provide technical information to states agencies and other public health officials on health effects, analytical methodologies, and treatment technologies associated with drinking water contamination.]
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-health-advisories-pfoa-and-pfos
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-05/documents/drinkingwaterhealthadvisories_pfoa_pfos_5_19_16.final_.1.pdf (fact sheet)
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If you’re interested in learning more about PFOA and PFOS we’re doing research in the this area and the paper below can bring you up to speed. Let me know if you can’t access it.
Behaviour and fate of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in drinking water treatment: A review
Mohammad Feisal Rahman, Sigrid Peldszus, and William B. Anderson
Water Research, 50(1):318–340. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135413008518
ABSTRACT
“This article reviews perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) characteristics, their occurrence in surface water, and their fate in drinking water treatment processes. PFASs have been detected globally in the aquatic environment including drinking water at trace concentrations and due, in part, to their persistence in human tissue some are being investigated for regulation. They are aliphatic compounds containing saturated carbon-fluorine bonds and are resistant to chemical, physical, and biological degradation. Functional groups, carbon chain length, and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity are some of the important structural properties of PFASs that affect their fate during drinking water treatment. Full-scale drinking water treatment plant occurrence data indicate that PFASs, if present in raw water, are not substantially removed by most drinking water treatment processes including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, biofiltration, oxidation (chlorination, ozonation, AOPs), UV irradiation, and low pressure membranes. Early observations suggest that activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange, and high pressure membrane filtration may be effective in controlling these contaminants. However, branched isomers and the increasingly used shorter chain PFAS replacement products may be problematic as it pertains to the accurate assessment of PFAS behaviour through drinking water treatment processes since only limited information is available for these PFASs.”
