Implications for the Natural Health of Reducing The Impact of PFAS on Water Systems and the Public Health Authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Act

According to EPA analysis, it would cost $1.5 billion a year for water companies to comply with the regulation. The benefits of reducing PFAS in drinking water would equal or exceed the costs, the agency said, in terms of less cancer and fewer heart attacks, strokes and birth complications in the affected population.

A variety of products, including clothing, cosmetics, upholstery and fighting foams, have been stainproof or waterproof by the use of a class of chemicals known as PFAS. They’re often called “forever chemicals” because of their bonds that last for a long time. Certain cancers and damage to the immune systems are associated with long-term exposure to PFAS.

The EPA administrator said at the Congressional hearing that the final levels of the limits may be a lower number than they first appear.

Health and environmental advocates slammed the proposed exclusions and enforcement delays as a threat to Americans. “Today’s decision is a shameful and dangerous capitulation to industry pressure that will allow continued contamination of our drinking water,” Mary Grant, water program director at the nonprofit Food & Water Watch said in a press statement. “This will cost lives.”

The heads of the American Water Works Association and Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, both of which have sued the EPA over its public health advisories, support the agency’s decision to scrap the regulations.

The decision will give water system managers more time to discover affordable treatment technologies and make sure that they’re on a sustainable path to compliance, according to the EPA press release.

The anti-backsliding provision, found in the Safe Drinking Water Act, says it’s illegal to weaken a drinking water rule once it’s set. She’s concerned that the agency may try to weaken the rule, but she’s worried that it’s delaying the movement towards drinking water protections for PFAS.

Health advocates are concerned that the move may delay the removal of these chemicals from drinking water and make people more exposed to chemicals that may contribute to chronic health problems.

The EPA finalized its first drinking water limits on forbidden forever chemicals: A critical look at the biden-era proposal for GenX

is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home , a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals.

The EPA finalized the country’s first legally enforceable federal drinking water limits on the most common types of forever chemicals last year. The EPA made an about-face today. The agency now wants to exclude several types of the chemicals from the rule, including so-called GenX substances initially intended to replace older versions of forever chemicals but that ended up creating new concerns. Extending compliance deadlines for two of the most prevalent forms of forever chemicals is part of the proposal that it also proposed.

The limits on five widely used types of chemicals are set by the Biden-era standards.