
EPA Releases New PFAS Analytic Tools
For the first time “Data from multiple sources”
The “PFAS Analytic Tools,” a new interactive website from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), offers data on per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) across the nation.
The public, academics, and other stakeholders will be better able to comprehend potential PFAS sources in their communities as a result of this information.
The mapping, charting, and filtering features of the PFAS Analytic Tools enable the general public to view the locations of testing as well as the levels of detection that were recorded.
“EPA’s PFAS Analytic Tools web-page brings together for the first time data from multiple sources in an easy to use format,” said John Dombrowski, Director of EPA’s Office of Compliance. “This web-page will help communities gain a better understanding of local PFAS sources.”
Data Combination
The EPA’s PFAS Analytic Tools combine data from various national databases and reports to create a single portal.
The PFAS Analytic Tools contain data on the Clean Water Act PFAS discharges from permitted sources, reported PFAS constituent spills, historical PFAS manufacturing or importing facilities, federally owned locations where PFAS is being investigated, transfers of PFAS-containing waste, and results of drinking water testing.
Continuous exerted efforts
The tools represent EPA’s continued efforts to give the public access to the expanding body of testing data that is accessible and encompass a wide range of PFAS.
Users of the data should be particularly aware of the warnings available on the website because the regulatory framework for PFAS compounds is still developing.
This will help users fully comprehend how thorough the data sets are. Instead than waiting for comprehensive national statistics to become available, EPA is publishing what is at this time while data is still filling in.
It is important for users to be aware that while certain datasets are full at the national level, others are not. For instance, the EPA has a nationwide inventory for testing drinking water at bigger public water utilities.
That data was made available between 2013 and 2016. Other drinking water datasets that are accessible online in some states were also compiled by the EPA to include more recent data.
The percentage of public water supplies that were tested varied dramatically from state to state for the subgroup of states and tribes who published the findings of PFAS testing in drinking water.
The data should not be utilized to make comparisons between cities, counties, or states due to regional variations in testing and reporting.
EPA keeps working to expand data sets
In order to build on the first drinking water data reporting that was carried out in 2013-2016, the EPA has published its fifth Safe Drinking Water Act Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.
Through this expansion, regulatory agencies will begin to collect millions of PFAS samples from drinking water starting in 2023.
Over 175 PFAS compounds have been added to the Toxics Release Inventory reporting criteria by the EPA recently, and more data should be received in 2023.
Additionally, the data on spill or release occurrences reported to the Emergency Response Notification System would be improved by the EPA’s plan to classify PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances.
Future iterations of the interactive portal will have these reporting improvements. To advance our understanding of the prevalence of PFAS in the environment, EPA will keep working to expand the data sets in the PFAS Analytic Tools.
See the new PFAS Analytic Tools.
Source: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)