NJDEP REPORT
Formal Drinking Water Standards
for PFAS in the Garden State
Only New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont have advanced formal drinking water standards for PFAS.
Compiled by John Joseph Parker
Contributing Editor
The New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP) published
its adoption of stringent, health-based
drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic
acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
(PFOS), chemicals that are extremely persistent
in the environment and have been linked to various
health problems in people.
Under rules published today in the New Jersey
Register, the NJDEP formally established
maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs, of
14 parts per trillion for PFOA and 13 parts
per trillion for PFOS. The rules also add these
chemicals to the state’s list of hazardous substances
and sets these levels as formal ground
water quality standards for the purposes of
site remediation activities and regulated discharges
to ground water.
“With the adoption of these standards, New
Jersey continues to lead the nation in protecting
public health and the environment from
these chemicals, which have been detected at
varying levels across the state,” says NJDEP
Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe. “By
adopting formal standards, we are putting in
place a clear regulatory framework that will ensure
consistency in monitoring, public notification
and treatment across the state.”
PFOA and PFOS belong to a large class of
synthetic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances, or PFAS. In 2018, New
Jersey became the first state to adopt an MCL
for any PFAS, setting an MCL of 13 parts per
trillion for perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA.
The federal government has not established
MCLs for any PFAS.
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