amna: For the first time, the
federal government is on the
cusp of regulating a class of
deadly, so-called forever
chemicals out of America's
drinking water.
The EPA's proposal applies to
six of those chemicals, known as
p-fas compounds, and would
require water utilities to clean
any detectable level out of
their systems.
Doing so could cost billions,
and thousands of their chemical
cousins would remain
unregulated.
Annie snider covers this closely
for politico and joins me now.
Welcome and thank you for
joining us.
Let's back it up a little bit.
There are thousands of these
p-fas chemicals.
Drinking water is just one place
they are found.
How common are they?
Annie: They are extremely
common.
They have been in widespread
consumer use since the 1940's.
They have an extremely strong
chemical bond that makes them
very useful for commercial
purposes.
They have been used in nonstick
cookware.
You are not supposed to use your
knife on a teflon pan because of
these chemicals.
They have been used in camping
gear, stain resistant carpeting,
military firefighting foam.
They are ubiquitous in the
environment.
Because of that very strong bond
that makes them so useful, they
are extremely difficult to break
down in the environment.
Once they are there, they
typically stay there and
accumulate.
It is not just in the
environment, the rivers and
streams, it is also in American
blood.
We three them in -- breathe in,
eat them, and also through the
drinking water.
Amna: Why would we geoff: Geoff:
Want to regulate them now --
amna: Why would we want to
regulate them now?
Annie: There are estimated to be
12,000 chemicals in this class.
Many of them we know virtually
nothing about.
We do know something about some
of them.
The best studied chemicals,
thes two that were in
production since the 1940's have
been clearly linked with cancer
and other health ailments.
Things like high blood
pressure, developmental impacts,
birth defects, and immune system
effects.
One of the most interesting
effects that we see is an impact
on the immune system that makes
vaccines less effective.
Amna: The EPA is saying they
will be regulated up to
detectable levels.
Does that mean lower levels are
considered safe?
Annie: Not exactly.
EPA's proposed regulation would
limit six p-fas.
Two of these chemicals that are
the most well understood and
actually no longer in production
would be limited to detectable
levels.
The EPA has said levels even
1000 times lower than what could
be detected are still dangerous
to human health, can still cause
negative health impacts.
Practically speaking, all that
they can require is for
utilities to monitor for these
chemicals.
And if they find them, treat
them so thoroughly that they are
below the detectable limits.
The other thing the EPA did was
include limits for four other
p-fas chemicals.
Some of these are still in
commercial use.
Two of them are what the
chemicals industry turns to when
they phased out the two older
chemicals.
The EPA is taking an innovative
approach which acknowledges
these chemicals might have more
severe health effects in
combination than they do
individually.
Amna: We know some states have
already moved to regulate these
compounds to some degree but
this is a proposed federal
standard.
How would it be for water
utilities to meet these new
standards?
What would it take?
Annie: Technologically speaking,
there are absolutely
technologies that drinking water
utilities could install to treat
for these chemicals, that are
pretty well proven.
We have reverse osmosis.
The technologies are there.
But they are not cheap.
They are very expensive to
install in the first place and
they also have ongoing
operational costs.
The way that our law is set up
now, those costs would be borne
by customers.
They would show up on people's
regular or quarterly water
bills.
They would not be paid for by
the polluters who put those
chemicals there in the first
place.
Amna: How big of a deal is it
that there could be a federal
regulation for this, knowing
what we know about the potential
impacts and this compound -- the
chemical compounds more widely?
Annie: It is it extremely
significant step.
A little bit of context -- the
U.S. Has not regulated a new
contaminant in drinking water in
nearly 30 years.
The congress overhauled the
drinking water act in 1996 and
made it significantly more
difficult for EPA to regulate
chemicals, to regulate
contaminants in drinking water.
If this rule is finalized, it
would be the first major upgrade
to the safety of the nation's
drinking water in nearly 30
years.
What's worth noting is those
same technologies that can treat
for these p-fas chemicals would
also remove other contaminants
from drinking water as well.
It could have some very
significant improvements to the
nation's drinking water overall.
Amna: Annie from politico
joining us tonight.
Thank you so much.
Annie: Thank you.