EPA Limits C8 in MOV Drinking Water

The EPA is tightening the restriction on C8 in drinking water.

The federal agency issued a consent order today lowering the action level for the manufacturing chemical in public water supplies to 0.4 parts per billion. That’s down from the 0.5 parts per billion prescribed by the agency in 2006. The consent order was prompted by a recent provisional health advisory for C8 - the first of its kind from the EPA.

The new action level is intended to reduce levels of PFOA exposure for people who live in the Mid Ohio Valley near DuPont Washington Works while the EPA completes research and a risk assessment on the chemical's impact on public health.

The new order means that DuPont will have to perform additional testing of surrounding areas to insure that public and private water systems do not contain C8 levels exceeding 0.4 parts per billion.