This month the State Water Resources Control Board posted the first results of testing for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) for nearly 600 drinking water supply wells. This testing was performed as part of a comprehensive effort to assess the presence of harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—coined “forever chemicals—in water systems and groundwater statewide. 

In this initial phase of the State’s Phased Investigation Approach, public water systems were ordered to sample drinking water supply wells near landfills or airports, locations where these chemicals are believed to be especially prevalent. They were also ordered to test wells near sites where the contaminants had been found previously during the third round of the EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 3).  

An analysis by the Los Angeles Times on the recently released results found that PFOA and PFOS were detected in 86 water systems that serve up to 9 million Californians. While approximately half of the wells sampled did not yield detectable levels of the contaminants, clusters of contaminated wells were found in Southern California in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.  

More worrisome, still, is the prevalence of contamination at military bases. Another Times analysis found that California has 21 contaminated bases—more than any other state. This has caused public concern, particularly since it has been found that PFAS have leached into the surrounding drinking water supplies at six of the base sites.    

In the face of public concern the State Water Board and water agencies have emphasized that contaminated groundwater wells do not necessarily equate to dangerous PFAS exposure levels for consumers. Utilities have the ability to treat the water, blend it with water from another source, or take the supply well out of service. The State Water Board has cautioned consumers to put the findings in perspective, stating that “the notification level is set very conservatively – in the parts per trillion – as the State Water Board assesses the extent of these contaminants in drinking water and the degree to which they may cause adverse health effects.”   

In August the State Water Board lowered the notification level (NL) – the non-regulatory standard for requiring notification and further monitoring – from 14 parts per trillion (ppt) to 5.1 ppt for PFOA and from 13 ppt to 6.5 ppt for PFOS. However, State Water Board has kept the response level (RL) – the non-regulatory standard for recommending that a drinking water supply well be taken out of service – at 70 ppt for the combined concentration of both contaminants. An updated response level will be announced this fall.  

Subsequent phases of this comprehensive look into PFOA and PFAS will include groundwater testing, as well as incorporating existing test data acquired from numerous federal facilities – particularly military bases throughout California. 

PFAS are a diverse group of manufactured compounds frequently used as surfactants in industrial, consumer, military, and firefighting applications across the United States, such as Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) firefighting products, textiles, carpeting, metal plating, paper food packaging, cleaning products, coating additives, and pesticides. 

PFAS compounds exhibit distinctive chemical characteristics that make them stable in the environment and resistant to degradation, allowing them to bioaccumulate in soil, sediment, groundwater, and animal tissue over time. Two types of PFAS are particularly persistent: Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOS and PFOA are fully fluorinated organic compounds which happen to be the most commonly produced PFAS in the U.S.  

Babcock Laboratories’ testing capabilities include the 14 compounds identified in EPA Method 537 Rev 1.1, as well as the 18 target analytes for EPA Method 537.1. Babcock Labs also has experience using other methods appropriate to non-potable matrices, such as landfill leachates, condensates, and groundwater. To ensure that your organization meets its PFAS monitoring requirements under the State Water Board’s Phased Investigation Approach, contact Babcock Labs about PFAS testing services.