New levels require specific actions by public water systems if PFAS are detected in drinking water
Press release from the State Water Resources Control Board:
Based on new data for the human health risks posed by specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS), or constituents, the State Water Resources Control Board is lowering the notification level for PFOS and PFOA, lowering the response level for PFHxS, and is issuing a new notification level and response level for a fourth constituent, PFHxA, if detected in drinking water.
Specifically, the new levels are:
- For PFOS and PFOA, a notification level of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA and PFOS (down from 5.1 ppt and 6.5 ppt respectively).
- For PFHxS, a response level of 10 ppt (down from 20 ppt).
- For PFHxA, a new notification level of 1,000 ppt and reporting level of 10,000 ppt.
If drinking water reaches a response level, the Division of Drinking Water recommends that water systems take action to reduce exposure – most commonly, taking a well offline, adding treatment, or blending the water with another source to reach an acceptable level. A notification level is a health-based, non-regulatory concentration of a contaminant in drinking water that also warrants notification and further monitoring and assessment.
These non-regulatory levels in California are for contaminants that do not have a current state-established maximum contaminant level (MCL). The Office of Environmental Health Hazard continues to gather data to finalize a Public Health Goal, the precursor to the State Water Board’s effort to designating MCLs for the PFAS constituents.
The new thresholds for these specific PFAS chemicals in drinking water brings California’s reporting and notification levels to that of the federal maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) established last year by the USEPA for PFOA and PFOS and matches the response level for PFHxS to the MCL for that compound. The reporting and notification level for PFHxA does not yet have a federal MCL.
More information about PFAS and notification and response levels in drinking water can be found on the board’s website.
