By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A recent legislative look at a group of potentially hazardous chemicals – called PFAS – in West Virginia’s drinking water supply coincided with a U.S. EPA health advisory announcement lowering the recommended levels of PFAS.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has been a Senate leader in addressing PFAS contamination but said she’s concerned that the EPA’s new numbers are so minuscule that they’ll create their own problems.
The Dominion Post talked on Monday with a local delegate who is also a water quality expert about PFAS and the EPA’s numbers. He commends Capito for her national leadership on the issue but believes Capito’s concerns may be misplaced.
PFAS background
EPA explains that PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are synthetic chemicals manufactured and used by a broad range of industries since the 1940s. They are resistant to high and low temperatures and degradation and have nonstick characteristics (think Teflon). PFAS have been detected worldwide in the air, soil and water. Most people in the United States have been exposed to PFAS. There is evidence that exposure above specific levels to certain PFAS may cause adverse health effects…