The not-for-profit groups Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) and the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (ISRTP) presented a three-day workshop titled PFAS Limits: How Did We Get So Far Apart?

The workshop took place at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It was organized by the Alliance for Risk Assessment (ARA), the Risk Assessment Advisory Committee, and the International Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (ISRTP).

Workshop collaborators included Exponent, American Forest & Paper Association, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TERA, Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, American Chemistry Council, Gradient, IAPMO R&T, WSP, Lucy Fraiser Toxicology Consulting LLC, The Lifeline Group, Consortium for Environmental Risk Management, E RiskSciences, FDA, NiPERA, E&W Law, Georgia-Pacific, Summit Toxicology, Creme Global, and American Petroleum Institute.

Over 20 regulators, corporate scientists, environmental lawyers, professors, and stakeholders with an interest in PFAS, gathered to share information on various topics regarding PFAS/PFOA, with a focus on the EPA’s proposed Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for six PFAS: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (known as GenX), PFHxS, and PFBS. Speakers discussed the legal, economic and policy implications of the proposed EPA PFAS MCL limit over the course of three days. Representatives from countries including Australia, Germany, and Israel spoke on their country’s current PFAS safety limits, and what studies were relied on to arrive at those levels. These talks addressed the EPA-proposed PFAS drinking water limits, highlighting that they can be up to 100,000-fold lower than those held by some foreign regulatory agencies.

Below are the conference highlights collected and written by Drs. David Brew and Careen Khachatoorian, and Ms. Kylie McCauley at Paustenbach & Associates, who acted as a sponsor for the workshop.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this workshop a success.