Addressing PFAS in Oregon

Note: DEQ is working to update this web page to reflect current work and recent decisions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

What are PFAS?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are a class of thousands of chemical compounds that have been used since the 1940s for a wide range of consumer and industrial products. PFAS provide grease- and water-resistance properties to many consumer products, such as clothing, shoes, and outerwear. They are also used in firefighting foam, electronics manufacturing, bulk fuel facilities, chrome-plating, paper manufacturing, and other consumer and industrial processes, products, and applications.

PFAS are considered emerging contaminants because research is ongoing to better understand the impacts they pose to human and animal health and the environment. PFAS are water soluble, highly mobile, and can accumulate in living organisms. PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals," meaning that when they contaminate soil or groundwater, they do not easily break down or degrade into a less harmful chemical form.

Unsafe storage, improper disposal, and inadequate containment of these chemicals can result in contamination of soil and waterways creating a risk to human health and the environment. PFAS-contamination can also migrate to groundwater and surface water supplies and affect the safety of drinking water.

See Oregon Health Authority's (OHA's) PFAS, Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances website for answers to frequently asked questions about PFAS.

What is DEQ doing to Address PFAS?

As part of the Toxics Reduction Program, DEQ is working with the OHA and other federal, state, and local agency partners to develop a greater understanding about the implications of PFAS for Oregon.

DEQ has designated PFAS as one of 60 priority chemicals or chemical classes for its Toxics Reduction Strategy. In addition, DEQ is working with the OHA and other federal, state, and local agency partners to address growing public health and environmental concerns. DEQ and OHA are evaluating appropriate policy responses to protect public health and the environment from PFAS contamination.

DEQ Air Quality, Land Quality, and Water Quality programs, as well as the DEQ Lab, are taking the following steps to address PFAS:

Developing an agency-wide strategic plan for addressing PFAS in the environment
Conducting a rulemaking process to regulate PFAS as hazardous substances. Visit the rulemaking page for more information.
Collecting samples and monitoring at public water systems for OHA and developing methods for testing PFAS in other media.
Identifying sites that may use PFAS in their operations
Overseeing site testing and assessment of impacts
Using Cleaner Air Oregon's data on requested toxic pollutant emissions reports from industries that use PFAS
Coordinating with federal, state, and local agency partners

Health effect information comes from studies of certain PFAS chemicals where there were: 1) occupational exposures to high levels of PFAS; 2) people living near industrial facilities where PFAS were used; and 3) people exposed to contaminated drinking water. Additional information about health effects comes from studies of animals. The research suggests that exposure to high levels of these PFAS may:

Affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and children.
Reduce a woman's chance of getting pregnant.
Interfere with the body's hormones.
Increase cholesterol levels.
Affect the immune system.
Increase the risk of cancer.

Much of what is known about health effects is based on studies of some older PFAS which have been more widely researched than newer generations of PFAS. More research is needed to help scientists fully understand how different PFAS may affect human health.

For more information concerning health risks look at the following websites:

OHA PFAS Website

ATSDR

EPA IRIS

Drinking water: Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Services (OHA-DWS) is the lead agency for oversight of public drinking water systems including evaluating and adopting new requirements promulgated by EPA and coordinating PFAS sampling with EPA and public water systems. Some public water systems in Oregon have had their drinking water tested for PFAS as part of EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, OHA's PFAS sampling project, or by voluntary testing by the water system. More information on PFAS regulation, PFAS monitoring, and sample results for public water systems can be found on OHA Drinking Water Services PFAS website. DEQ tracks this data and provides support for source water protection where feasible. Due to the absence of a regulatory program or requirements for testing, the high cost for analysis and the fact that focus on PFAS has been fairly recent, there is currently very limited PFAS sampling and associated data for domestic/private drinking water wells in Oregon.
Fire-fighting foam: Fire-fighting foams containing PFAS have been used in Oregon to suppress fires involving fuels and other flammable liquids, and have been deployed at military and municipal fire-fighting training facilities. To date, PFAS has been found in shallow groundwater monitoring wells and soil, and to a lesser degree in surface water and stormwater at some facilities using those foams. DEQ's Cleanup Program is providing oversight and technical input to the landowners or facility operators where such contamination has been found.
Food: Studies show that many consumer products and product packaging contain toxic chemicals that can contaminate food. DEQ is participating in interstate forums to learn more about PFAS in food packaging and to support the development of a “roadmap" for assessing alternatives to PFAS in food packaging. In addition, DEQ is tracking ongoing studies of biosolids (waste turned into fertilizer) and fish tissue samples. DEQ continues to evaluate options for regular testing and operational controls to ensure our programs are protective of human health and the environment. OHA is responsible for issuing fish consumption advisories and would closely coordinate with DEQ on evaluating tissue monitoring results.
Air: DEQ's air toxics permitting program, Cleaner Air Oregon, requested toxic pollution emissions reports from industries that use PFAS. DEQ expects to refine emissions inventories as more information becomes available about industrial PFAS use and related air emissions. DEQ's air toxics program is also concerned with possible PFAS emissions from sites where fire-fighting foam is or has been used and from landfills.
Industrial discharges: Based on findings from other states, solid waste landfills and municipal wastewater treatment facilities are pathways for PFAS releases to the environment. Although these facilities do not use PFAS, commonly used products containing the chemicals can accumulate in solid waste landfill and wastewater treatment facilities. DEQ is assessing the potential risks of PFAS releases from solid waste landfills and municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
Environmental releases: PFAS have been used in many industries and products in Oregon, such as fire-fighting foam, electronics manufacturing, bulk fuel facilities, chrome plating, paper manufacturing, and other consumer and industrial processes, products, and applications. Initial data show PFAS detections in some of Oregon's drinking water, fish, groundwater, surface water, soil, and sediment, in many cases at amounts exceeding health-based screening levels. DEQ's Cleanup Program works with parties with known or suspected releases to investigate and, if needed, cleanup contamination to protect people and wildlife

Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Services (OHA-DWS) is the lead agency for oversight of public drinking water systems including evaluating and adopting new requirements promulgated by EPA and coordinating PFAS sampling with EPA and public water systems. Some public water systems in Oregon have had their drinking water tested for PFAS as part of EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, OHA's PFAS sampling project, or by voluntary testing by the water system. More information on PFAS regulation, PFAS monitoring, and sample results for public water systems can be found on OHA Drinking Water Services PFAS website. DEQ tracks this data and provides support for source water protection where feasible. Due to the absence of a regulatory program or requirements for testing, the high cost for analysis and the fact that focus on PFAS has been fairly recent, there is currently very limited PFAS sampling and associated data for domestic/private drinking water wells in Oregon.

Risk is a combination of two factors: toxicity and exposure. If there is a bucket of very hazardous waste, but it's locked in a room where no one will ever be exposed to it, risk is low. Similarly, something like water is not toxic at all, so even at high exposure it has minimal risk. In the environment, risk is generally evaluated by sampling to determine concentrations present and assessments of nearby people or wildlife that may be exposed.

EPA has set several health-based levels for PFAS based on toxicological studies:

Legally enforceable drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds
Screening levels for soil and water for several PFAS
Recommended water quality criteria and benchmarks for aquatic life.
Draft human water quality criteria for human health

DEQ will continue to work with EPA, OHA, and other agencies to evaluate PFAS screening tools to better understand PFAS risks in Oregon. Research has shown that many newer “short-chain" PFAS, which have been deemed safer than the older “long-chain" PFAS, can transform into the more toxic and persistent forms of PFAS in the environment, or through manufacturing processes or combustion. These scientific realities make managing PFAS as a class, rather than on a chemical-by-chemical basis, a more effective and efficient approach for reducing PFAS risks and impacts.

In 2024 EPA issued legally enforceable drinking water standards, or Maximum Contaminant Levels, for six PFAS compounds: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly referred to as GenX chemicals), and PFBS. Public water systems are required to comply with these standards and, OHA will adopt these standards into Oregon rule. If exceeded, public water systems will be required to inform customers and take measures to reduce concentrations into compliance. The EPA also established PFOA and PFOS as federal hazardous substances, allowing the EPA to require parties to investigate and cleanup releases of these compounds to the environment to protect people and wildlife. EPA is also working on other PFAS policy and research actions, involving soil, air, surface water and drinking water.

The Agency on Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is a federal public health agency with a role in evaluating whether exposures to contaminants pose a health threat. However, it does not have regulatory authority, so it works with national organizations like EPA to establish national guidance and regulatory standards for public drinking water supplies. The agency has published screening levels for four forms of PFAS in drinking water. The screening levels ranged from 14 to 140 ppt for children and 52 to 517 ppt for adults.

In 2011, as part of the Oregon Priority Persistent Pollutant program for water quality, DEQ established “initiation levels" in rule for five PFAS chemicals in municipal wastewater effluent. When these levels are exceeded, municipal wastewater facilities are required to develop pollution prevention plans. In addition, PFOS is designated as one of 68 chemicals of high concern for children's health under the Oregon Toxics-Free Kids Act (2015) administered by OHA. Manufacturers must report the presence of these chemicals of concern in children's products, and then phase out the use of the chemicals in a subset of those products. Effective January 1, 2025, it is prohibited in Oregon to sell or distribute foodware containers or cosmetics containing intentionally added PFAS. DEQ is currently undergoing a rulemaking effort to add six PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under Oregon's rules so that our agency can effectively regulate the investigation and cleanup of these compounds at contaminated sites.

Approaches to addressing PFAS vary across the states. Some states are proactively addressing PFAS by proposing or passing laws, collecting data and requiring investigations of releases, limiting or restricting use in certain products, setting drinking water levels, creating screening levels, etc. In other cases, states may have taken no action or may wait to follow EPA's lead.

By engaging with other agencies across the country, DEQ is leveraging their lessons learned as we develop appropriate policies and procedures to address this class of contaminants here in Oregon.