New Jersey Sets Drinking Water Limit For Widespread Chemical

The Garden State helped to raise the bar for drinking water protection earlier this week, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

On Wednesday, DEP officials announced that New Jersey will become the first state in the nation to set “maximum contaminant levels” that require statewide testing of public drinking water systems for perfluorooctoanic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA).

According to the DEP, the two chemicals are used in industrial manufacturing and have been detected in public water systems across New Jersey. Both are “persistent in the environment and have been linked to various health concerns,” officials said. [Read more about each chemical and their alleged health risks below]

On Wednesday, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced that the agency has accepted the New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute’s recommended drinking water standard of 14 parts per trillion for PFOA, and formally proposed a standard of 13 parts per trillion for PFNA.

Over the years, New Jersey’s water systems have cooperated in testing for chemicals such as PFOA and PFNA, which are classified as “contaminants of emerging concern” but are not regulated by maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), according to the DEP.

The adoption of formal MCLs will require water companies and utilities to routinely monitor for the chemicals and take corrective actions if needed, such as installing treatment systems, the DEP stated.

The New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute previously said that if adopted, the standard for PFOA would be the “strictest in the nation.”

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS?

According to the DEP:

“PFOA and PFNA belong to a group of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Some PFASs, including PFOA and PFNA, do not break down readily in the environment and remain in the body for a long time once absorbed through drinking or eating.”

PFOA was used in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial applications, including the manufacture of nonstick cookware and food packaging. It was also used to make upholstered furniture, carpets, and clothing resistant to soil, stains, and water, as well as to make shoes, clothes and water-resistant mattresses, the DEP stated.

PFNA was used as a processing aid in the manufacture of high-performance plastics that are resistant to harsh chemicals and high temperatures, the DEP said.

DEP officials said:

“While scientists continue to study the health effects of other types of PFASs, a growing body of studies suggests PFOA and PFNA may impact liver and immune system function, increase blood cholesterol levels, and cause delays in growth and development of fetuses and infants. PFOA may also increase the risk of certain types of cancer.”

For more information, including health effects information and Drinking Water Quality Institute recommendations, click here.

WHERE HAVE THESE CHEMICALS BEEN FOUND?

According to state officials, New Jersey implemented a “guidance level” of 40 parts per trillion for PFOA in drinking water in 2007. Since then, 12 public water systems have detected PFOA at concentrations above that level.

Local water utility companies have taken a variety of “proactive” actions to address the contamination, including installing treatment systems, increasing monitoring and taking wells out of service, DEP officials said.

“New Jersey American, for example, installed treatment systems at its Hummocks Station Plant in Union Township, Union County; at its Birch Creek treatment plant in Logan Township, Gloucester County; and at its Ranney treatment plant in Penns Grove, Salem County,” the DEP stated.

New Jersey started looking at PFOA following reports of elevated levels of the chemical in drinking water sources adjacent to a DuPont facility in Parkersburg, West Virginia, that used the chemical, DEP officials said.

The DEP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency then focused investigation efforts in Salem County communities adjacent to the DuPont Chambers Works plant, along the Delaware River in Pennsville. This expanded into broader statewide DEP investigations of PFOA, PFNA, and related chemicals in water supplies, officials said.

DEP officials said that DuPont’s successor, the Chemours Company, is taking remedial steps that include:

• Installing a containment wall to prevent the spread of contamination of PFOA and other chemicals from groundwater to the river (augmenting a pump-and-treat system that “has been in operation for many years”)
• Installing Point of Entry Treatment Systems (POETS) on dozens of impacted off-site private wells in the area
• Under the direction of EPA and DEP, expanding the investigation of potentially impacted wells in a radius up to 2.5 miles from the plant to determine potential impacts from possible deposition of PFOA and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from airborne emissions

Workers who deal with firefighting foams may have also been exposed to PFOA, according to the DEP.

State officials said:

“Various types of PFASs, including PFOA, have also been used in foams used for firefighting and training, particularly in specialized firefighting foams at airports and military bases. The DEP and Drinking Water Quality Institute are developing a health-based standard for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), another of the chemicals found frequently in these foams.”

DEP officials said that the agency is working with the EPA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration on investigations and remediation activities related to PFAS contamination from firefighting foams, notably at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington and Ocean counties and the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic County.

As for PFNA, detections above the recommended MCL level have been reported in 11 public water systems and some private wells in Gloucester and Salem counties near the Delaware River, DEP officials said.

For example, Solvay Polymers used PFNA at its West Deptford facility until 2010, state officials said.

The company is delineating the extent of offsite groundwater contamination, and has taken remedial actions such as adding a system to treat contaminated groundwater on its property, and paying for installation of a treatment system at a public supply well in neighboring Paulsboro, according to the DEP.

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