The US EPA issued stricter safety standards for fluorinated chemicals

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued stricter safety standards for four different monofluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, saying that these chemicals are more dangerous than previously thought. Now the agency is considering regulating these compounds as a category rather than as a separate one.

So far, EPA has identified about 8000 different types of PFAS compounds. This high fluorine chemical family has been used in various industries since the 1940s. It has the ability to repel oil, grease and water and can be used as a lubricant.

The new health advisory report released by the US Environmental Protection Agency on June 15 will adjust the exposure level of the two most well-known and well studied compounds in drinking water from 70 parts per trillion (PPT) set in 2016 to 0.004ppt of perfluorooctane acid (PFOA) and 0.020ppt of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).

Although environmental protection organizations such as the natural resources Protection Commission expressed appreciation for EPA's actions, the American Chemical Association (ACC) - the trade association of American chemical companies - said that EPA's process of developing these new lifelong health recommendations had "fundamental defects".

According to ACC, EPA's revised PFOA and PFOS standards are based on the toxicity assessment currently being reviewed by its scientific advisory committee. The organization said: "the EPA did not wait for the results of peer review, but announced new recommendations that were 3000 to 17000 times lower than the report released by the Obama administration in 2016." "Existing processing technologies cannot reach these new levels. In fact, these levels are lower than those that can be reliably detected using existing EPA methods."

In addition, two other PFAS chemicals - hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt with the trade name genx, and Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid - will receive federal health consultation for the first time, with 10ppt and 2000ppt respectively. Genx chemical is considered as a substitute for PFOS, and PFOS is considered as a substitute for PFOS.

PFOS and PFOS have been proved to be harmful to human health and were phased out many years ago, but they are still ubiquitous and can be found in human urine, breast milk and umbilical cord blood. Studies have shown that these two compounds are related to liver injury, thyroid disease, birth defects and fertility problems.

Changes in Science

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the latest recommended level is based on new science and takes into account lifelong exposure, indicating that the concentration of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOA) or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in water close to zero may have some negative effects on health. According to the new data and its draft analysis, the agency said that the level of possible negative health effects from exposure to PFOS and PFOS was "far lower" than the "level of understanding" of EPA when it issued a health warning in 2016.

These new lifelong health recommendations are not enforceable, but the agency plans to propose the first ever federal drinking water regulation for PFAS by the end of this year.

In addition to issuing these new PFAS water restrictions, EPA also announced that it would provide $1billion (£ 829million) to States to help them solve PFAS and other emerging pollutants in drinking water through water quality testing and the installation of centralized treatment technologies or systems.

EPA acknowledges that these new health counseling levels of PFOA and PFOS are lower than the amount that can be measured by current analytical methods. Although the level of these temporary health consultations may change as the Advisory Committee is reviewing its analysis, the agency does not expect any change beyond the minimum reporting level.

At the same time, the EU is ahead of the United States in the regulation of PFAS. In September 2020, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) set new safety thresholds for the four most common PFOS, including PFOS and PFOS. This threshold is the tolerable intake of 4.4 ng / kg body weight per week.

Before the current war, the OSCE has also begun to improve the country's emergency response capacity. Anna predvichna, an OSCE project official, said the basic idea was to develop a set of simple guidelines for emergency personnel. From 2020, they began to carry out multi agency training programs for local officials and emergency personnel. "We spent a lot of time on practical operations, such as learning how to use personal protective equipment, how to evacuate people from dangerous areas, and how to decontaminate ourselves and those affected by chemical hazards," prevenina said

In addition, OSCE simulated a series of inter agency emergencies. When the war broke out, they were designing exercises at the Ilyich steel plant in Mariupol. "That steel plant is even bigger than azovstal," predvichna explained. "We plan to conduct a practical exercise of ammonia leakage, with more than 45 participants from different regions participating... Unfortunately, we can't do this, not now.

In response to the war, the team collected emergency briefings on exposure to toxic chemicals. Andrii dziubenko, OSCE communications official, said that when we saw the development of the situation, we naturally took action. The material includes information for identifying and dealing with ammonia, mercury, chlorine and nitric acid leaks. In April this year, they also held a webinar for journalists. Dziubenko said: "(they) are usually the first people to arrive at the scene." He hopes that these briefings will also be available to the wider public.

In the current war, the use of chemical weapons by the Russian army is a new area of concern for the country. Jeubob said that the OSCE has no supervision responsibility in this region, only the same information reported by the media, such as the rumor that the Russian army used chemical weapons in Mariupol. Dziubenko said, "we can't confirm the authenticity of this information, we just don't know." But he added that now "chemical warfare is one of our biggest fears."

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