New Jersey Adopts Stricter PFAS Limits for Drinking Water

New Jersey will adopt stricter standards to limit PFOA and PFOS in drinking water and will require all operators of public water systems to begin testing for the chemicals by April 1, 2021.

PFOA and PFOS are two primary polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), compounds that are found in teflon, firefighting foam and other industrial products. While EPA has a health advisory for PFOA and PFOS at 70 parts per trillion, some do not feel this standard goes far enough, and state regulators have begun establishing their own standards.

New Jersey’s new standard limits the presence of PFOA to 14 ppt and PFOS to 13 ppt. If drinking water does not meet these standards, utility operators will have to install additional treatment systems and/or utilize different source water.