By: Francis DiGiano

Francis DiGiano — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 14:59:36 +0000

Your article does not mention EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) whereby constituents on the watchlist for future regulation must be measured by thousands of water utilities across the US, and includes for 2024 the handful of PFAS that your article notes. Results will be used to determine the number of water utilities that will need to install expensive controls to meet VERY STRICT (at the current ability to detect!) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) proposed and thus to estimate the nationwide cost of compliance. The larger water utilities having already by monitoring PFAS for at least several years, the best local example being Cary, NC which withdraws water from Jordan Lake. The scientific complexities regarding what you refer to as “toxicity” are worth mention. There are at least three approaches: 1) in vitro test animal studies; 2) in vivo test animal studies; and 3) epidemiological (human health impact by survey of populations) studies. Each takes a lot of time and money. The regulatory process must take in account the risks vs. benefits. It is admittedly a very slow process and perhaps worthy of the cynicism about interference by industry. Your photo of a pipe discharging water into a stream leaves the impression of uncontrolled and widespread presence of PFAS but I appreciate that the caption notes “SOMETIMES effluent can be contaminated with PFAS”. Pipes visible at a river bank most often are carrying stormwater. Small publicly owned wastewater treatment plants usually with no industrial sources may discharge by such a pipe to the bank of very small feeder streams. But pipes carrying treated effuent from municipalities extend under water away from the river bank to increase dispersion. What remains unclear is the extent to which PFAS accumulation in blood is attributable to drinking water. As your article points out, PFAS is used widely in consumer products and may come through food chain IF biosolids are applied to agricultural land. We need to more information on this pathway and its prevalance nationwide- difficult to quantify,

Comments on: Toxic PFAS are Everywhere, and Remain Largely Unregulated

By: Francis DiGiano