ACC challenges PFOA/S limits 

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has filed a petition in DC Circuit Court challenging the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisories (LHAs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, above) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). These are both part of the much-maligned wider group of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

While saying that it supports the development of drinking water standards for PFAS based on the best available science, the ACC said, the new LHAs “reflect a failure of the agency to follow its accepted practice for ensuring the scientific integrity of its process”. Although they are ‘non-regulatory levels,’ LHAs still have sweeping implications for policies at the state and federal levels.

“The agency’s revised LHAs for PFOA and PFOS are based on toxicity assessments that are currently being reviewed by EPA’s Science Advisory Board,” added the ACC. “Rather than wait for the outcome of this peer review, EPA has announced new advisories that are 3,000 to 17,000 times lower than those released by the Obama administration in 2016. These new levels are below levels that can be reliably detected using existing EPA methods.”