EPA Issues a Human Health Toxicity Assessment for GenX (PFAS) Chemicals

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In October, EPA issued a Human Health Toxicity Assessment for GenX Chemicals. GenX chemicals are a subset of PFAS chemicals and developed to replace reliance on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Animal studies previously reported liver as the major site of organ injury, but also reported health effects on the “kidneys, immune system, development in offspring, and an association with cancer.” In its toxicity assessment, EPA calculated a chronic (lifetime) daily dose of 3 ng/kg-day and a subchronic (less-than-lifetime) daily dose of 30 ng/kg-day are “unlikely to lead to adverse health effects in humans.” Notably the chronic reference dose for GenX chemicals is 100 times lower than the chronic reference dose for perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and roughly an order of magnitude lower than the current reference dose for PFOA and PFOS, but EPA cautions that “[t]oxicity is only one piece of information that public officials consider when determining whether there is a risk to public health.” EPA also noted that EPA is reviewing the data for PFOS and PFOA, so their reference doses are “subject to change.”

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