Perfluorooctanoic Acid Found in Merrimack Water

MERRIMACK, NH - The state is investigating whether or not PFCs or perfluorochemicals have an extensive presence in the town’s drinking water supply after a test last week found low levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in tap water at a plastics plant.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics found 0.03 micrograms per liter in samples taken from four water faucets at their facility on Daniel Webster Highway, according to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. The water came from the Merrimack Village District Water System.

PFCs, the agency noted, is a man-made chemical used in a variety of products – like non-stick cookware, weather resistant clothing, and carpeting – that makes them resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. The acid has been used at the plant in Merrimack, according to the company and the previous owners of the facility.

The NH DES said while the US EPA had not set enforceable drinking water standards for the acid, it had established a “provisional health advisory” for any amount more than 0.4 micrograms per liter. PFOA has been detected in the water supplies and some private wells in Hoosick Falls, NY, and North Bennington, VT, other Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, according to the NH DES.

The company was reportedly buying bottled water for residents in those communities after the acid was found in drinking water, according to press reports.

Studies, according to the NHDES, have shown that nearly all people have some level in the chemical in their bodies although potential health effects from exposure “are not well understood,” according to Jim Martin of the NH DES.

PFCs were found in water at the former Pease Air Force base in Portsmouth in 2014, and officials moved to close the well where the contaminant was found.

Martin noted that the department would be working closing with the water district and the town “to ensure that residents are promptly informed of the results of the MVDWS well tests and any additional information resulting from the planned groundwater investigations being conducted by Saint-Gobain and NHDES.”