Drinking Water Utilities Warn EPA Of Gaps As It Weighs PFAS Standards

摘要

Drinking water utilities are warning EPA not to leap ahead with regulatory actions on perfluorinated chemicals before significant gaps are addressed in detecting and treating the chemicals, determining their health effects and ensuring the country has enough laboratory capacity to handle a higher demand for chemical testing.The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), which represents publicly owned drinking water utilities throughout the country, cautions in comments submitted in July that EPA's decisions on handling per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will set precedent for how it addresses emerging contaminants in the future."Whether EPA sets a standard for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act or develops a health advisory and/or guidance, the agency needs to be transparent about the state of the science, the health impacts, available treatment, cost and the source(s) of the contamination," AMWA says in its July 11 comments.AMWA filed its comments in response to EPA's request for comment as part of its continuation of its PFAS national leadership summit and as it decides on its strategy for addressing the class of chemicals. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com.