OEHHA Releases Long-Awaited Proposed Public Health Goals for PFOA and PFOS

By Willis Hon | JD Surpa | July 23, 2021

Read the full article by Willis Hon (JD Surpa)

"Yesterday, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency announced the release of a draft document for public review describing proposed Public Health Goals (PHGs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. The release of the draft PHGs is a long-awaited and significant step in the regulation of such per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in California.

The draft PHGs identified by OEHHA are 0.007 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA to address concerns based on kidney cancer in humans associated with exposure to PFOA and 1 ppt for PFOS to address concerns related to liver and pancreatic tumors in laboratory animals associated with exposure to PFOS. The draft document also presents health-protective drinking water concentrations for noncancer health effects. The proposed noncancer health-protective concentrations are 3 ppt for PFOA, based on increased risk of liver damage in humans and 2 ppt for PFOS, based on increased total cholesterol in humans."

This content provided by the PFAS Project.