EPA Adds Five New PFAS to List of Risk-Based Values to Help Agency Determine if Response or Remediation is Needed

On May 18, the EPA added five additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the Agency’s Regional Screening and Removal Management Levels to Protect Human Health and the Environment. The list provides risk-based values that help EPA determine if response or remediation activities and actions are needed, such as sampling, assessing risks, or providing alternative drinking water. It is important to note that these values are not cleanup standards. According to the Agency’s news release, this action will provide EPA “with critical tools needed for Superfund and other Agency programs to investigate contamination and protect people from these PFAS chemicals using the latest peer-reviewed science.” EPA reviews and updates these risk-based values twice a year and may add additional PFAS in the future. Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) was already included on this list. The five new PFAS are:

• Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt (HFPO-DA or GenX)
• Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
• Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)
• Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS)