As part of its commitment to address drinking water challenges across America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an update to the Drinking Water Treatability Database with new references and treatment options for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This update will help states, tribes, local governments and water utilities make informed decisions to manage PFAS in their communities. 

“As EPA scientists and researchers evaluate technologies to remove PFAS from drinking water, we believe it’s important to share this information through our Drinking Water Treatability Database,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development and the EPA Science Advisor. “This is exactly the kind of work that our new EPA Council on PFAS is working to support so that our federal, state, local, and Tribal partners have the information and tools they need to help protect our nation’s drinking water from PFAS and other contaminants.”

The Drinking Water Treatability Database presents an overview of different contaminants and possible treatment processes to remove them from drinking water. This information is supported by scientific references, such as journal articles, conference proceedings, reports and webinars with treatability data.  

With this update, EPA added treatment information for 11 PFAS compounds. This update brings the total number of PFAS with treatment information in the database to 37, including PFOA and PFOS. Researchers have also added 38 new scientific references to the existing PFAS entries, which increases the depth of scientific knowledge available in the database.

The PFAS added to the Database are: 

• Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS);
• Perfluorohexanesulfonamide (PFHxSA);
• Perfluorobutylsulfonamide (PFBSA);
• Perfluoro-4-methoxybutanoic acid (PFMOBA);
• Perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid (PFMOPrA);
• Perfluoro-3,5,7,9-butaoxadecanoic acid (PFO4DA);
• Fluorotelomer sulfonate 4:2 (FtS 4:2);
• Ammonium 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoate (ADONA);
• Perfluoro-4-(perfluoroethyl)cyclohexylsulfonate (PFECHS);
• F-53B: a combination of 9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanone-1-sulfonic acid and 11-Chloroeicosafluoro-3-oxaundecane-1-sulfonic acid; and
• Perfluoro-2-{[perfluoro-3-(perfluoroethoxy)-2-propanyl]oxy}ethanesulfonic acid, also known as Nafion BP2.

The Drinking Water Treatability Database contains information on many different contaminants, not just PFAS. EPA researchers continue to expand and improve information in the database.  

For  more information on  EPA’s Drinking Water Treatability Database and to access it, visit: www.epa.gov/water-research/drinking-water-treatability-database-tdb

Learn more about EPA’s PFAS research at www.epa.gov/chemical-research/research-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas