CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s environmental agency is proposing drinking water standards that would be among the nation’s strictest when it comes to certain industrial compounds.
The Department of Environmental Services on Friday proposed standards for four compounds called per- and polyfluoroalykyl substances, or PFAS. The compounds, used in firefighting foam, nonstick cookware and other products, increasingly have turned up in public water supplies and private wells around the country.
The federal government has a nonbinding health threshold of 70 parts per trillion for two forms of the contaminant. New Hampshire is proposing 12 parts per trillion for PFOA and 15 parts per trillion for PFOS. Both are close to what scientists advising the state of Michigan recommended earlier this week.
The New Hampshire proposal will be considered by a legislative rules committee next month.
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