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Health and science experts, and community advocates testified yesterday before Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee concerning LD 1388 “An Act To Require Testing of Public Drinking Water Supplies for Toxic Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and To Establish Maximum Contaminant Levels” introduced by Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren). The bill would require testing of public drinking water supplies for toxic PFAS. It would also establish a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFAS in drinking water that would move Maine away from using the outdated USEPA advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) and set a more health-protective drinking water standard of 20 ppt for a combination of 6 PFAS. 

Dr. Linda Birnbaum, a former director of the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, told lawmakers that the proposed 20 parts per trillion is better than the current federal advisory level of 70 parts per trillion.

“The bottom line is, as we start to study them, they are all doing the exact same things in our body,” said Birnbaum, a scholar in residence at Duke University in North Carolina. “They are all highly persistent. As you know, these are ‘forever chemicals’ and they are not going to leave our environment.”

As more and more stories of communities impacted by drinking water being contaminated by toxic PFAS emerge, advocates urged the Maine legislature to take appropriate action and follow the legal standards of neighboring states like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. 

Read the Portland Press Herald story on the hearing here.

Press release below:

Internationally renowned experts and community advocates urge Maine to require testing and adopt more protective standards for PFAS in drinking water at legislative hearing

Committee urged to follow neighboring states in the fight against “forever chemicals” linked to cancers and reduced effectiveness of vaccines

Augusta, Maine – Scientists, advocates, and community members asked the Maine legislature today to put an end to allowing water so contaminated with PFAS that it is illegal to serve in neighboring states. PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” can increase the risk of some cancers, cause possible harm to the immune system and decrease responses to the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Maine officials have been using an outdated “advisory” level from the USEPA of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for two specific PFAS, opposed to the more health protective level of 20 ppt for up to six compounds used by Vermont and Massachusetts. The Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention (Maine CDC) has recently proposed using the 20 ppt standard for only two PFAS, which would still leave some Mainers with contaminated drinking water considered unpotable elsewhere. 

One such Mainer is Ashley Little, a mother of three in Trenton, whose well was tested with help from Defend Our Health after the state reported contamination at the nearby Trenton Elementary School. Her well water would exceed the Vermont and Massachusetts standards based on the presence of a PFAS known as PFHpA, which is excluded from the Maine CDC proposal. 

“We all drink our well water daily. Now I’m concerned of the potential health issues this could cause my family,” Ms. Little said. “How is my state and my government going to keep my family safe? This is extremely worrisome and it needs to be addressed.” 

Elsewhere in the state, data from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s investigation of the growing PFAS contamination around Fairfield show at least seven other families there whose contamination would be ignored under the Maine CDC’s proposal but covered under the Vermont standards.

Experts and scientists concurred with the need for Maine to pursue a more health protective standard.

“I strongly encourage Maine to set a stringent drinking water standard for multiple PFAS as a group, as Massachusetts and Vermont have already done. The reality is that individuals are exposed to multiple PFAS from multiple routes, not to a single PFAS,” said Linda S. Birnbaum Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program in preparation to testify to the Health and Human Services Committee. “The more we study this class of chemicals, the more we find reasons for concern. In the meantime, people are being exposed and their health impacted. I believe we already know enough about the harm to justify including at least the six compounds included in LD 1388.”

LD 1388 “An Act To Require Testing of Public Drinking Water Supplies for Toxic Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and To Establish Maximum Contaminant Levels” introduced by Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren), would adopt a PFAS standard similar to the one in place in Massachusetts and Vermont. It would also implement the Governor’s PFAS Task Force’s recommendation to require testing of all public drinking water supplies for PFAS, including compounds other than those currently included in the limit. Rep. Pluecker’s bill is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of legislators, including Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield) and HHS committee Senate Chair, Ned Claxton (D-Auburn).