The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has adopted public health goals (PHGs) for drinking water of 0.007 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 1 ppt for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Although OEHHA recognized that use of PFOA and PFOS has significantly declined, the April 5 adoption of these PHGs reflects the agency’s concern that these PFAS persist in the environment and are present in drinking water sources. The PHGs are the culmination of a five-year process that included public participation and external scientific review, and are a determination of the level of PFOA and PFOS in drinking water that does not pose a significant risk to health, when considering lifetime exposure from all uses of tap water. The California State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water (DDW) will use these PHGs to develop mandatory drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA that water systems will need to achieve. OEHHA’s press release can be found here, and additional information on adoption of these PHGs can be found here.

The State Water Board will use the values to develop drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA that are as close to the PHG as possible but still technically and economically achievable for drinking water systems.

oehha.ca.gov/...