The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones. The Biden administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding that they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight. Those limits on PFAS, which are man-made and don’t easily break down in nature, were expected to be reduced in drinking water for millions of people. Limits on three types of PFAS, including so-called GenX substances found in North Carolina, will be scrapped and reconsidered by the agency, as will a limit on a mixture of several types of PFAS.

Other PFAS news:

• AP News: What the EPA’s partial rollback of the ‘forever chemical’ drinking water rule means
• USA Today: EPA will roll back limits on 4 ‘forever chemicals.’ See if they were found in your water.
• NPR: The Environmental Protection Agency delays limits on PFAS in drinking water
• Medical Xpress: Drinking water and select foods linked to PFAS exposure in California adults
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: News release: NIH to award $8 million for new USC Superfund Center to research and address ‘forever chemicals’
• Voice of San Diego: South County report: water agency toxic chemicals saga continues
• Governing magazine: How a California county eliminated PFAS from the water supply