FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2022
CONTACT: Steven Fantes, Public Affairs Manager, 617-817-1297 and steven.fantes@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Expressing Serious Scientific Concerns about WHO Draft Provisional Drinking Water Guidelines for PFOA, PFOS, and Total PFAS
The World Health Organization (WHO) released draft provisional drinking water guidelines for PFOA, PFOS, and total PFAS for a 30-day public comment period that ended November 11, 2022. The guidelines use the expected uncertainty inherent in every scientific study to dismiss thousands of studies that support the need for health-based drinking water guidelines for these dangerous chemicals. WHO plans to finalize these guidelines as early as December 2022. In response, EPN wrote comments, and member Dr. Linda Birnbaum released the following statement:
“The draft guidelines proposed by WHO for PFOA, PFOS, and total PFAS in drinking water reflect a dangerous and non-scientific approach to public health protection that falsely equates the natural and unavoidable uncertainty inherent in all scientific studies with a lack of evidence. WHO inappropriately dismisses thousands of studies—animal, mechanistic, and human—on the health effects of PFAS as too uncertain to support protective health-based drinking water guidelines.”
Dr. Linda Birnbaum is available for media interviews regarding these guidelines.
About Dr. Linda Birnbaum: Linda S. Birnbaum, PhD, DABT, ATS, was the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) from 2009-2019. She worked as a federal scientist for over 40 years, including 19 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She is currently Scientist Emeritus at NIEHS and Scholar in Residence at Duke University.