Under a new proposed state regulation, North Carolinians would be exposed to much higher concentrations of a notorious Teflon chemical than the rest of the country in their drinking water no less. Neat-o.
According to EWG, "The North Carolina Science Advisory Board on Toxic Air Pollutants (NCSAB) recently recommended setting a Maximum Allowable Concentration, or MAC, for the extremely toxic and persistent contaminant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in groundwater. The proposed MAC for lifetime exposure is 3 to 5 times less protective than contamination limits in other states where PFOA pollutes drinking water."
In West Virginia, PFOA has also contaminated the water but residents are provided with alternative drinking water when PFOA levels exceed 0.5 parts per billion (ppb). Under the new weak PFOA NC standard citizens would be allowed to drink 3 times as much PFOA as West Virginians.
This is a huge health risk for NC residents. EWG notes, "The highest measured levels of PFOA in human blood in the US, other than factory exposures, are in people who have consumed PFOA contaminated tap water in West Virginia and Ohio. These people had PFOA levels in their blood 100 times higher than the levels found in the water, and far higher than the average person in the US. The proposed MAC would allow PFOA to accumulate in the bodies of North Carolina residents to levels 20-to-40 times higher than those found in the general U.S. population."
Wow.
