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N.H. not lowering its PFOA standards

Study states N.Y. should adopt lower its parts per trillion guidelines

By KEN LIEBESKIND - For The Telegraph | Mar 11, 2018

A report filed on the dangers of PFOA contamination for the state of New York recommends the Maximum Contaminant Level should be four to 10 parts per trillion, lower than the 70 ppt standard recommended by the EPA that New Hampshire now follows.

The report, filed by the National Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit advocacy group and written by Judith Schreiber from Schreiber Scientific, details the dangers of PFOA contamination from Saint-Gobain that has been reported in Hoosick Falls, New York, as well as Bennington, Vermont, and Merrimack.

The report notes that drinking water is the dominant source of PFC exposure and that chronic exposure to contaminated water will lead to “about 100 times the level of PFOA in drinking water.”

Exposure to PFOA creates significant adverse health risks, including testicular and kidney cancer, and liver effects.

The report stated Hoosick Falls public water contamination is rated from 151 to 662 ppt with the levels of private wells from 14.4 to 194 ppt. Hoosick Falls residents’ geometric mean blood serum was reported as 23,500 ppt – about 10 times higher than the U.S. population for blood serum of 2,080 ppt.

The Vermont Department of Health published a health advisory based on developmental effects for combined exposure to PFOA and PFOS not to exceed 20 ppt.

The report concluded “New York State should adopt an MCL in the range of 4 ppt to 10 ppt for PFOA and PFOS combined exposure for the protection of public health based on known serious adverse health effects and increased cancer risks.”

The report was shared with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

“We provided it to our health risk assessors who evaluate science for regulatory action,” said Clark Friese, the assistant DES commissioner.

When asked whether the state might lower the MCL level, based on the report’s four to 10 ppt recommendation, he said, “We’re using the 70 ppt standard that was developed through a significant peer review process. The water is

protected through all stages of life.”

He said the New York study may not have gone through a peer review process. The 70 ppt standard was set by the EPA in May 2016 and incorporated in New Hampshire on May 31, 2016 after an emergency rule making session, Friese said.

When asked how local water managers have responded to the 70 ppt standard, Friese noted that Merrimack Village District Water Works shut off two wells that tested higher than 70 ppt after Saint-Gobain reported PFOA contamination in 2016.

“Saint-Gobain and the MVD are still negotiating the installation of a treatment system to reopen the wells, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Friese said.

A statement from the law firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer at www.mvdwater.org, that was published on Jan. 7 says, “We hope, but cannot guarantee, to have an agreement in place within the next 90 days to continue with the Merrimack Village District plans to fully treat MVD wells 4 and 5 for PFOA contamination.”

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