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Federal regulators announced tighter guidelines Thursday for human exposure to an industrial chemical used for decades in such consumer products as non-stick pans, stain-resistant carpets and microwave popcorn bags. The cancer-causing chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, has been found in the tap water of dozens of factory towns near industrial sites where it was manufactured. DuPont, 3M and other U.S. chemical companies voluntarily phased out the use of PFOA in recent years. (Biesecker, 5/19)

In recent months, state investigators in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire have found high levels of the chemical, known as PFOA, in drinking-water wells and groundwater near former and current chemical plants, alarming residents and raising concern about PFOA contamination in other parts of the country. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based advocacy group that assesses chemicals in consumer products and the environment, sent a letter in late April to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy urging the agency to set an enforceable drinking-water standard for the chemical and to force former manufacturers to disclose all sites in the U.S. where they used, made or dumped PFOA. (McWhirter, 5/19)

The Environmental Protection Agency has set new advisory levels for a contaminant that has been found in drinking water supplies in parts of New Hampshire. The state Department of Environmental Services said Thursday that the EPA set a lifetime drinking water health advisory level for perfluorooctanoic acid at 70 parts per trillion. (Enstrom, 5/19)

The EPA has announced a lifetime health advisory level for two chemicals that have contaminated water in Southern NH and at the former Pease Air Force Base. PFOA and PFOS are slippery, stable chemicals used since the 1940s in products like nonstick cookware. A major class action lawsuit against DuPont brought to light links between the chemicals and health affects including cancer back in 2005. (Corwin, 5/19)