PFAS

Providing safe drinking water is the mission of the City of East Peoria Water Department.  Our water professionals test your water constantly to ensure your water meets or exceeds the standards set by the EPA/IEPA.  We work collaboratively with regulatory agencies to ensure your drinking water meets the standards of today and the future.

What Are PFAS

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of manmade substances that have been produced in the United States since the 1940s and utilized for a variety of applications ranging from water and stain-proofing to firefighting.
 
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 (UCMR3), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoroactane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are currently tested for presence in public water systems. Some PFAS have been phased out of production due to environmental and human health concerns, yet they persist in the environment and may contaminate surface and ground waters.  

What Is The Current Standard?

Neither the Illinois EPA nor the U.S. EPA have yet developed enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS. In the interim, Illinois EPA has developed health-based guidance levels for the small number of PFAS for which there is appropriate information to do so. The health-based guidance levels are intended to be protective of all people consuming the water over a lifetime of exposure. It is important to understand that health-based guidance levels are not regulatory limits for drinking water. Rather, the health-based guidance levels are benchmarks against which sampling results are compared to determine if additional investigation or other response action is necessary.  

 What Has The EPA Learned About PFAS So Far?

• PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time.
• Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.
• PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe.
• Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.
• There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks.
• Learn more about our current understanding of PFAS.

 What We Don't Fully Understand Yet 

• EPA's researchers and partners across the country are working hard to answer critical questions about PFAS:
  • How to better and more efficiently detect and measure PFAS in our air, water, soil, and fish and wildlife
  • How much people are exposed to PFAS
  • How harmful PFAS are to people and the environment
  • How to remove PFAS from drinking water
  • How to manage and dispose of PFAS
• This information will help EPA and state, local, and tribal partners make more informed decisions on how best to protect human health and the environment.
• Learn more about how we are increasing our understanding of the health risks of PFAS.

PFAS Detection

Illinois EPA testing has determined that one or more PFAS were detected in our water system at values greater than or equal to the Illinois EPA health-based guidance levels, as provided in the table below. 

Our water may contain other PFAS at concentrations greater than or equal to the lowest concentration the laboratory can reliably detect, known as the minimum reporting level. However, neither the Illinois EPA nor the U.S. EPA currently have health-based guidance levels for these additional compounds. Results can also be found on the PFAS Investigation Network Interactive Map webpage: https://illinois-epa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/d304b513b53941c4bc1be2c2730e75cf.