You might have seen recent news reports about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (together abbreviated as PFAS). These are a class of human-made chemicals typically associated with manufacturing of non-stick coatings, water-proofing and stain-proofing treatments. They have also been associated with certain fire-fighting foams.
EPA Proposed new PFAS drinking water Standards – MWRA will easily meet them
On March 14, 2023 EPA released draft National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for six PFAS compounds. Based on current and historic sampling results, MWRA will easily meet these standards.
MWRA has tested for all six of the compounds included in the proposed EPA rule, as required by current state regulations. Our results are either not-detectable or at trace levels so low they can’t be quantified. All MWRA PFAS results are posted on MWRA’s web site.
All fully-supplied MWRA communities will meet the standards. Each partially-supplied community will need to individually review their data, and some communities may need to make source or treatment changes to meet the proposed standards.
MWRA staff will be carefully reviewing the proposed regulations during the 60 day comment period.
|
Current MassDEP DW Standard |
Proposed EPA DW Standard/Heath Based Water Concentrations |
MWRA Result (1) |
MWRA Meets Standard |
PFOA |
Combined 20 ppt |
4 ppt |
Trace |
YES |
PFOS |
Combined 20 ppt |
4 ppt |
Trace |
YES |
PFNA |
Combined 20 ppt |
10 ppt* |
Non Detect |
YES |
PFHxS |
Combined 20 ppt |
9 ppt* |
Non Detect |
YES |
PFHpA |
Combined 20 ppt |
No EPA standard |
Trace |
YES |
PFDA |
Combined 20 ppt |
No EPA standard |
Non Detect |
YES |
PFBS |
No state standard |
2,000 ppt* |
Trace |
YES |
HFPO-DA |
No state standard |
10 ppt* |
Non Detect |
YES |
(1) - Based on most recent testing for MassDEP regulations. These results would all be classified as zero or non-detectable under the proposed federal standard
* - These 4 to be regulated as a combined Hazard Index based on Health Based Water Concentration ratios
Trace = present, but at concentrations too low to be reliably quantitated with current analytical technology.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) set a standard of 20 parts per trillion on October 2, 2020 for the sum of these six PFAS compounds (called PFAS6)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
- Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)
- Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)
- Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS)
- Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA)
- Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA)
While the new regulation’s testing requirements did not kick in until 2021, MWRA tested for the six regulated PFAS as well as a dozen other PFAS compounds, using extremely sensitive testing methods, beginning in 2019. MWRA began quarterly testing as required by the MassDEP regulation in January 2021.
As expected given MWRA’s well-protected watersheds and reservoirs, MWRA easily met the new standard. No more than trace amounts, too low to be quantified, were detected during the first two quarterly sampling rounds. The sum of the six regulated PFAS compounds was zero, below the new MassDEP standard of 20 parts per trillion. Based on these results and MWRA’s well protected source reservoirs with no identified potential sources of PFAS, MassDEP issued a sampling waiver for the remaining two quarters of 2021. MWRA will sample again during the next 3-year compliance period as required by MassDEP.
Results are posted below.
If you live in a partially supplied MWRA water community, please click here to find the results for your community's testing.
These compounds are persistent in the environment and have been used for decades in a number of everyday products. MWRA will continue to perform testing and closely monitor developments in the science around this issue.
MWRA tests the water supply each year for over 120 contaminants to ensure the water supplied is of the highest quality. For more information about PFAS and all other drinking water tests or if you have any questions about water quality, please visit MWRA's Water Testing page, which includes all of our annual and monthly test results, or contact us at 617-242-5323.
