PFAS Chemicals: A Deep Dive
This legislative session contains one House bill and one House resolution on PFAS chemicals.
HB338: “An Act Relating to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals” (PFAS) (sponsored by Rep. Kulkarni).
HR85: A resolution recognizing March 4, 2022, as PFAS Chemical Awareness Day in Kentucky (Sponsored by Rep. Kulkarni and Rep. Bratcher).
According to the EPA, PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time.
Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.
PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe.
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.
There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks.
Because of their usefulness, PFAS chemicals are contained in everyday consumer products and manufacturing processes, including but not limited to fire extinguishing foam, food packaging, household products, and personal care products. These chemicals lead to accumulations in people, animals, and the environment over time, which increases the risk of harmful effects for adults, children, and animals.
Testimony on House Resolution 85, honoring “PFAS Awareness Day.”
What does HB338, “An Act Relating to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals” (PFAS) do?
This legislation requires the Energy and Environment Cabinet to promulgate regulations establishing maximum PFAS limits and monitoring requirements for drinking water provided by public and semi-public water systems, and maximum PFAS limits and monitoring requirements for discharges into the waters of the Commonwealth. The maximum PFAS limits be designed to protect public health and be updated.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:
This bill is a KCC “Strong Support” Bill. We encourage you to ask your Representative to sponsor this legislation. You may contact them via email or phone the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 and ask them to “please co-sponsor HB338.” We also ask you to “thank” Rep. Kulkarni and Rep. Bratcher for sponsoring HR85.
Excerpts from a recent report from Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet (Aug. 2021):
“In an effort to expand our knowledge of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) occurrence in Kentucky, 40 surface water monitoring stations were each sampled one time during the summer of 2020. This project was designed as an extension of the previous year’s drinking water PFAS study. Monitoring station locations were selected to fill data gaps and represent each of the major river basins in the state. Catchment areas for these monitoring stations ranged from 0.8 mi2 to 4288 mi2 PFAS were detected at 36 of the 40 monitoring stations. The most frequently detected PFAS was PFOS, which was found at 34 monitoring stations. This was followed closely by PFOA, which was detected at 31 stations. The highest single concentration was PFOS, which was found at 249 ng/L (or parts per trillion (ppt)) at a station in Christian County. This is considered a cursory study for the presence of PFAS, and due to the limited number of samples care must be taken when attempting to draw conclusions.”
Link to the full report link here: https://eec.ky.gov/Environmental-Protection/Water/Reports/Reports/2021-PFASSourceWaterReport.pdf