PFAS in the Delaware River Basin

EPA Drinking Water Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for PFAS

EPA Draft Human Health Water Quality Criteria (HHC) for PFAS

Compound	Water + Organism HHC (ng/L)	Organism Only HHC (ng/L)
PFOA	0.0009	0.0036
PFOS	0.06	0.07
PFBS	400	500

Note: These HHC values are draft, non-regulatory criteria. States may adopt their own values.

The following resources provide more information about these criteria and what the numbers mean:

• National Primary Drinking Water Regulations | US EPA
• Technical Fact Sheet: Draft National Recommended Human Health Ambient Water Quality Criteria for PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS
• Human Health Water Quality Criteria for PFAS | US EPA

History of PFAS in the Basin

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of more than 13,000 synthetic organic compounds characterized by exceptionally strong carbon–fluorine bonds. These bonds make PFAS highly resistant to heat, water, and oil, and protect them from natural biological and chemical degradation. As a result, PFAS persist for long periods in the environment and are often referred to as 'forever chemicals.' This persistence, together with the wide range of physical and chemical properties across PFAS compounds, allows some to accumulate in sediments and organisms while others are readily transported by air or water, ensuring they can be found almost everywhere in the environment.

The Delaware River Basin holds a unique place in the history of PFAS. It was at DuPont’s Chambers Works facility in Deepwater, New Jersey, that the first commercially produced PFAS compound—polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)—was accidentally discovered in 1938. Later marketed as Teflon™, this discovery helped establish the region as a global center for fluoropolymer research and production. For decades, the basin served as both a laboratory and manufacturing hub for the expansion of PFAS into thousands of consumer and industrial applications.

This long history of industrial and commerical activity across the Delaware River Basin has left a legacy of PFAS pollution that is heavily concentrated in the Lehigh Valley and extends south through the estuary. According to the EPA’s ECHO database, nearly 3,000 industrial sites in the basin have been identified as potentially involved in the production, manufacture, or use of PFAS, with more than 1,500 facilities still active today. Together, these historical and ongoing sources present a significant challenge to protecting water resources across the basin, which is shared by more than 13 million people across four states.

Historical reference: Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), 1938 – Hagley Museum and Library Digital Archive

About the Delaware River Basin PFAS Data App

This interactive application provides free access to publicly available monitoring data for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface water, groundwater, sediment, and biological tissue across the Delaware River Basin. The app is designed to translate large datasets from difficult-to-access formats into a visual tool that can be readily accessed and understood by a broad audience, including those without a scientific background.

The app was originally developed by scientists at the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) as an internal tool for better understanding the scope, distribution, and variability of PFAS pollution throughout the Basin. Recognizing the importance of transparency and shared science, DRBC has made this tool available to support state agencies, researchers, utilities, and community members from all backgrounds.

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Data Sources and Scope

All data displayed in this application are publicly available and were retrieved from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Quality Portal or the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Data API. The dataset currently includes over 2000 PFAS samples , most of which are surface and ground water samples (>1700), and almost 300 of which are tissue samples from 17 aquatic species.

All data were downloaded from their original sources and processed to support the app's functionality and performance. While reasonable efforts were made to ensure accuracy, the app and data are provided as they are with no guarantee of suitability for any specific use. Users are solely responsible for assessing whether the data are appropriate for their purposes.

To assess data feasibility and limitations for your intended use, you can access the uncurated (raw) dataset at the following links:
EPA's WQP (all data)
USGS' Water Data API (water, sediment)

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How This App Supports DRBC’s PFAS Roadmap

PFAS are highly persistent, mobile, and bioaccumulative chemicals that present long-term challenges for water quality management. DRBC’s PFAS program emphasizes a phased, science-based approach that includes monitoring, improving data integration, identifying potential sources, and supporting regulatory and management decisions across the basin.

This application directly supports those goals by:

• Consolidating publicly available PFAS data from various agencies and jurisdictions
• Centralizing PFAS data in a single, publicly available platform
• Allowing users to visually explore spatial and temporal patterns of PFAS pollution
• Improving transparency and accessibility of public PFAS data
• Providing a foundation for future PFAS monitoring, analyses, and decision-making

As monitoring continues and analytical methods evolve, this tool is expected to grow alongside DRBC’s long-term PFAS strategy.

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For additional background on PFAS in the Delaware River Basin, including DRBC’s long-term roadmap and ongoing initiatives, please visit the official webpage: https://www.nj.gov/drbc/programs/quality/pfas.html

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For more information or to provide feedback, contact:

• Jeremy Conkle, Sr. Chemist/Toxicologist (jeremy.conkle@drbc.gov)
• Matthew Amato, Water Resource Scientist (matthew.amato@drbc.gov)

Development of this app was funded by EPA's Section 106 Water Pollution Control Grant Program (I-98339317-3)