Posted on September 19, 2017 by Kenneth Gray
No longer emerging, Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) have exploded on the environmental and toxic tort landscape in 2016 and in 2017. Cognoscenti will recall U.S. EPA phase-out initiatives dating back to 2000, EPA Drinking Water Health Advisories set in 2009 and the TSCA action plan of the same year, the 2012 EPA drinking water monitoring rule, and even a blog in this very space “way back” in 2011.
Why have PFASs recently been compared to asbestos and PCBs for potential costs and impacts? And why will they continue to be significant even if there is no further federal regulation in the near term? Here’s why:
· The compounds have many uses in many products and were therefore manufactured or used (and released) at a large number of facilities. Commercial products included, among others, cookware, food packaging, personal care products, and stain resistant chemicals for apparel and carpets. Industrial and commercial uses included photo imaging, metal plating, semiconductor coatings, firefighting aqueous film-forming foam, car wash solutions, and rubber and plastics. Sources include landfills.
· PFASs are highly mobile and highly persistent in the environment, and so will be present for many decades.
· The EPA Drinking Water Health Advisory level was reset (lower) in 2016 at 70 parts per trillion (ppt).
· EPA estimates that 6.5 million people are affected by PFASs in public water systems, which does not include any impacts to smaller water systems or private wells.
· More and more public water systems are voluntarily testing for PFASs – and more states are compelling testing.
· Airborne releases of PFASs have contaminated groundwater and surface water.
· They’re ubiquitous in the environment and present in human blood. PFASs are also found in fish, and thus fish advisories are being set by states.
· California has proposed listing PFASs under Proposition 65 based on reproductive toxicity.
· Many U.S. Department of Defense properties (and former properties) were the sites of PFAS releases in firefighting foam, and DOD is ramping up additional testing on its facilities.
· Toxic tort lawsuits have been filed over PFAS contamination in Parkersburg, WV; Decatur, AL; Merrimack, NH; and Hoosick Falls, NY. More lawsuits are likely.
· Several Attorneys General are reportedly considering lawsuits on behalf of the citizens of their states.
It may only be the end of summer, but can you sense a snowball?
Tags: PFAS, Drinking Water, Hazardous Materials, Health Advisories, Proposition 65, Toxic Torts
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