West Virginia lawmakers push to regulate ‘forever’ PFAS chemicals

By Nadia Ramlagan | Public News Service | January 10, 2023

Read the full article by Nadia Ramlagan (Public News Service)

“West Virginia lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation in 2023 aimed at regulating PFAS chemicals in the state’s drinking-water systems.

Commonly found in Teflon cookware, water-resistant clothing, fast-food packaging and other consumer goods, PFAS have been linked to cancer, immune suppression, neurodevelopmental disorders, thyroid disease, decreased fertility and other conditions.

Luanne McGovern, a member of the board of directors of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, explained that The Clean Drinking Water Act of 2023 – modeled after last year’s House Bill 4055 – would outline a strong set of actions to curb residents’ exposure to the chemicals.

‘The legislature, first off, wants to set state-specific maximum contaminant levels for certain PFAS chemicals,’ said McGovern. ‘They also want to establish a PFAS action-response team to go after some of the really high areas. They also want to require facilities that are using PFAS to report their use.’

Last summer the Environmental Protection Agency released drinking-water health advisories for some PFAS compounds, listing the threshold of contamination least likely to cause harm to human health. The advisories are only recommendations and are not enforceable.” …

This content provided by the PFAS Project.