Hard PFAS Quiz

Incorrect.

A maximum contaminant level, or MCL, is an enforceable water standard. A health advisory level, or HAL, is not technically a standard. It's an non-enforceable level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency or others. In March 2023, EPA proposed a PFAS MCL, which are expected to come into effect by the end of 2023.

Incorrect.

PFAS levels have decreased in the general population since the 2000s. This is partly because of the phase-out of PFAS. More and more actions to decrease the general population’s exposure to PFAS have led to these results, too!

Incorrect.

This one’s complicated, but this is false.

There’s very strong evidence that certain types of PFAS compounds, like PFOA and PFOS, can cause cancer. However, for the vast majority of other PFAS compounds, scientists have not yet evaluated whether they can lead to cancer. Because many PFAS are chemically similar to PFOS and PFOA, scientists suspect that other PFAS may have similar health effects.

Incorrect.

It’s false.

PFNA, PFHxS, and GenX each have a standard of 10 parts per trillion. The group limit for PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX combined is a unitless measure known as a hazard index. The hazard index is a relatively novel approach to address PFAS as a mixture of co-occurring chemicals.

Incorrect.

Firefighters can be exposed to PFAS when using PFAS-containing firefighting foams. These are special foams used for putting out fuel fires. They can also be exposed from their turnout gear, which is treated with PFAS to make it water-resistant.

Incorrect.

It’s 20 ng/ml.

This is a blood risk level established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2022. On this site’s What’s My Exposure tool, we use this as a benchmark to help people know how their blood levels compare to this risk level.

Incorrect.

It’s the Faroe Islands.

Much of this work has been led by researcher Dr. Philippe Grandjean.

Incorrect.

EPA’s CompTox database currently identifies over 12,000 compounds as PFAS. You can sometimes see the count as “>4700” or “>9000.”