USEPA Finalizes Aquatic Life Criteria for PFOA and PFOS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has finalized its recommended aquatic life criteria and benchmarks for 10 PFAS compounds, including PFOA and PFOS. These benchmarks help guide states and tribal authorities in creating enforceable water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. Though not regulatory, these guidelines provide a critical framework for adopting water quality criteria for selected PFAS into their water quality standards to protect freshwater ecosystems.

USEPA Finalizes Aquatic Life Criteria for PFOA and PFOS

Understanding PFAS and Their Impact

PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” have been widely used in industrial and consumer products like firefighting foam and nonstick cookware. Their persistence in the environment leads to the contamination of water, sediments, and soil. PFAS are known to accumulate in fish and other aquatic life and can pose ecological risks.

USEPA’s New Criteria

The USEPA’s new aquatic life criteria establish Criterion Maximum Concentrations (CMC), Criterion Continuous Concentration (CCC), and benchmark exposure concentrations for PFAS in freshwater and saltwater systems, particularly focusing on PFOA and PFOS. The acute freshwater aquatic life benchmarks for eight PFAS reflect the latest research and are designed to protect aquatic organisms during short-term exposures. In this final version, the EPA also added acute saltwater life benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS. 

To prevent harm to fish and invertebrates, PFOA has an acute water column CMC of 3.1 mg/L and a chronic water column CCC of 0.10 mg/L, while PFOS acute water column CMC is set at a much lower at 0.071 mg/L, and a chronic water column CCC of 0.00025 mg/L. These PFOA and PFOS CMC and CCC water column concentrations were lowered considerably from the 2022 Draft Aquatic Life Criteria, as were the PFOS invertebrate whole-body, fish whole-body, and fish muscle concentrations. However, the PFOA invertebrate whole-body, fish whole-body, and fish muscle concentrations were slightly raised from the 2022 Draft Aquatic Life Criteria. 

How This Affects Businesses

Industries with potential PFAS discharges, such as manufacturing and wastewater treatment plants, should be mindful of these updated guidelines. Even trace amounts of PFAS can accumulate over time, posing risks to compliance with future state or federal regulations. Proactively managing PFAS discharge is crucial to avoiding penalties and legal challenges.

How EnviroScience Can Help

EnviroScience offers expert support in navigating PFAS-related issues, including:

  • PFAS Monitoring: We provide comprehensive sampling and analysis services to assess contamination levels.
  • Risk Assessment: Our team evaluates the impact of PFAS on local ecosystems and advises on mitigation strategies.
  • Regulatory Guidance: We help clients comply with new and emerging PFAS standards through tailored remediation and mitigation plans.

As the regulatory landscape evolves, EnviroScience remains committed to helping clients stay compliant while protecting aquatic ecosystems. For more details on how we can assist, visit our Water Quality Monitoring Services page.

Few environmental firms in the country retain EnviroScience’s degree of scientific know-how, talent, and capability under one roof. The diverse backgrounds of our biologists, environmental engineers, scientists, and divers enable us to provide comprehensive in-house services and an integrated approach to solving environmental challenges—saving clients time, reducing costs, and ensuring high-quality results.

Our client guarantee is to provide “Excellence in Any Environment,” meaning no matter what we do, we will deliver on our Core Values of respect, client advocacy, quality work, accountability, teamwork, and safety. EnviroScience was created with the concept that we could solve complex problems by empowering great people. This concept still holds true today as our scientists explore the latest environmental legislation and regulations and incorporate the most up-to-date technology to gather and report data.

EnviroScience expertise includes but is not limited to aquatic surveys (including macroinvertebrate surveys and biological assessments); ecological restoration; ecological services (including impact assessments, invasive species control, and water quality monitoring); emergency response; engineering and compliance services; endangered mussel surveys; laboratory and analysis; stormwater management; sustainability services; threatened and endangered species; and wetlands and streams (including delineation and mitigation). Further, EnviroScience is one of the few biological firms in the country that is a general member of the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) and offers full-service commercial diving services.