LTC 311-2017 Perfluorinated Compounds and Drinking WaterCity of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachll.gov
Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
Tel: 305-673-7010, Fax: 305-673-7782
NO.LTC# 311-2017
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members
DATE: June 9, 2017
SUBJECT: Perfluorinated Compounds and Dri
LETTER TO COMMISSION
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide a brief update on the City's drinking
water quality and to confirm the results of recent analyses were far below any advisory levels
for perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). The full 2016 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR
will be mailed to every mailing address in Miami Beach within the next couple of
weeks, before the July 1 required date.
PFCs, or more accurately perfluoroalkyls, are manmade compounds used in the manufacture
of stain, oil and water-resistant consumer products. They are also found in products such as
firefighting foams, cleaners, cosmetics, paints, adhesives and insecticides. PFCs are
persistent in the environment, because natural processes do not rapidly degrade them.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified several PFCs used in
manufacturing that the agency considers potentially important environmental contaminants.
They are perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),
perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoroheptanoic
acid (PFHpA), and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS).
PFCs in drinking water are not currently regulated in the United States. However, six
perfluorinated compounds are monitored under EPA's Third Unregulated Contaminant
Monitoring Rule (UCMR3). Published in 2012, UCMR3 requires drinking water monitoring for
30 contaminants between 2013 and 2015 and provides a basis for EPA to take future
regulatory actions that protect public health. The PFCs monitored under UCMR3 include
PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFHpA, and PFBS.
In May 2016, following the UCMR3 testing, the EPA released health advisories for PFOA and
PFOS, establishing a lifetime health advisory for each compound or a sum total of the two, of
0.07 parts per billion (ppb).
The City of Miami Beach tested for the six PFCs as part of the UCMR3 and the results were
under the 0.07 ppb lifetime health advisory. More recently, on May 11, 2017, the City of Miami
Beach performed another analysis of PFCs in the drinking water system and again all of the
results were below the advisory limits provided by the EPA.
PFCs and Drinking Water
June 9, 2017
Page 2 of2
There is at least one website reporting PFC detection in the city's drinking water supply in a
unit of measure other than the prescribed ppb. The different, smaller unit of measure used (ppt
or parts per trillion) makes the concentrations of PFCs appear high. However, they are below
the advisory limits as confirmed when converted to ppb.
Rest assured the City of Miami Beach provides safe and aesthetically pleasing drinking water
that meets or exceeds all established standards.
ST/MKW/RWC