RESEARCH SHOWS THE MOST COMMON ROUTE OF EXPOSURE TO PFAS IS THROUGH DRINKING WATER.
Currently, there are no federal drinking water standards in place for PFAS compounds. In 2016, the US EPA established drinking water Health Advisory Limits (HAL’s) of 70 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA in total. In 2022 the EPA dramatically decreased the HAL’s to:
- Interim updated Health Advisory for PFOA = 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt)
- Interim updated Health Advisory for PFOS = 0.02 ppt
- Final Health Advisory for GenX chemicals = 10 ppt
- Final Health Advisory for PFBS = 2,000 ppt
Over recent years individual states have adopted their own maximum contaminant levels (MCL’s) using the HAL as guidance. In 2023 the EPA announced a proposed rule for a PFAS national primary drinking water standard that is expected to go into effect in 2024. Regulations surrounding PFAS, both state and federal, continue to evolve to address concerns for the environment and public health.
In December 2019, the US EPA published Method 533 for Drinking Water. The method includes 25 PFAS compounds, including eleven (11) “short chain” compounds, and specifies isotope dilution quantitation. AEL is certified to perform method 533 and UCMR 5 PFAS analytes to supplement our expansive Drinking Water capabilities.
NEW PFAS METHODS CONTINUE IN DEVELOPMENT: DRINKING WATER SAMPLES HAVE US EPA-APPROVED PUBLISHED METHODS AND NON-POTABLE WATERS AND SOLIDS SAMPLE ANALYSIS CAN BE PERFORMED BY EPA DRAFT METHOD 1633
Currently, non-potable water and solids samples can be analyzed by LC/MS/MS as either SOP-041 LC/MS-MS or PFAS by LC/MS/MS Compliant with Table B-15 of the DoD QSM 5.3. Additionally, AEL is certified for Draft Method 1633. As the need for rapid, cost effective PFAS analysis has grown, AEL has developed screening method 8327 for non-potable waters. AEL offers these options to support investigation, remediation and compliance initiatives from coast to coast, providing Level IV data packages and an array of electronic data management configurations.
AEL is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL and is the largest laboratory network in the state of Florida. We are also the largest small business environmental testing laboratory in the nation. In addition to PFAS testing, AEL has an expansive portfolio of analytical and data management capabilities. Privately owned, AEL has supported the environmental community with service excellence and technical expertise for more than 25 years.
AEL already tests more drinking water sites in Florida than any other laboratory, and we are ready to test PFAS for you as well. We perform our PFAS analysis in our Jacksonville laboratory using state of the art LC/MS/MS systems. And of course, we have certifications for the Florida Department of Health, TNI/NELAC, DoD-ELAP, and ISO-17025. We are a PFAS certified laboratory.
