On July 22, the state of California unveiled for public review its draft public health goals (PHGs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), two of the most widely studied types of PFAS. As noted in the goals, these two particular compounds have been used in consumer products and industrial settings for the last half-century. Because of their prevalence, California now proposes establishing a limit of PFOA at 7 parts per quadrillion in drinking water, and 1 part per trillion for PFOS. Even if finalized, California’s PHGs are not directly ...

On March 19, 2021, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”) announced that it intends to list perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (“Proposition 65”).[1] For several years now PFOA has been included on the Prop. 65 list as a chemical known to cause reproductive toxicity, but this proposed change would list PFOA as a chemical “known to cause cancer.”

The change in language means that any ...