The White House announces first-ever national drinking water standard for PFAS.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has released a state of science report on PFAS. The report summarizes current PFAS research in key strategic areas, including safe removal and destruction of PFAS and alternatives to PFAS that are safer.

This action builds on two years of progress on President Biden’s action plan to combat pollution from PFAs, or, ‘forever chemicals’.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) anticipates that if fully implemented, the rule will prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious PFAS-attributable illnesses.

The CDC completed the first multi-community blood PFAS assessment in over 2000 residents across 10 communities. The Department of Defence continued site investigations at more than 700 installations and initiated remedial investigations at over 250 sites addressing PFAS in drinking water at 53 military and National Guard facilities. EPA began distributing $10 billion in funding to address emerging contaminants such as PFAS under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Nearly two dozen Federal agencies and offices have made systematic and substantive progress to safeguard human health and protect the environment from PFAS over the first two years of the Biden-Harris Administration. Some of which include: The National Institute of Environmental Health sciences funded over 70 projects to investigate human and environmental PFAS exposures and impacts. The Department of Veteran Affairs launched the Military Exposures Research Program to better understand the health impact of chemical exposures including PFAS. The Food and Drug Administration completed studies to understand the potential health effects of certain PFAS in women and children. EPA, The Department of Energy, and Department of Defence continue to share PFAS information and action updates via dedicated PFAS websites.

The full report can be read here.