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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fourth Legislature, Second Regular Session
blood testing; perfluorinated chemicals; appropriation
Purpose
Beginning January 1, 2021, requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to develop and implement a program to provide blood testing for individuals who are exposed to perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) through specified water supplies.
Background
According
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFCs refer to a group of toxic
chemicals that includes perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are
man-made chemicals that are manufactured and used in a variety of industries.
PFAS exposure can occur through food consumption, commercial household
products, factories, living organisms and drinking water. Exposure to PFAS can
result in increased cholesterol levels, low infant birth weights, effects on
the immune system, cancer and thyroid hormone disruption (U.S. EPA).
S.B. 1565 appropriates the sum of $300,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2021 to DHS.
Provisions
1. Requires, beginning January 1, 2021, DHS to develop and implement a program to provide blood testing for people who are exposed to PFCs through the specified water supplies.
2. Requires the cost of blood tests to be covered by Arizona if:
a) there is reason to believe or laboratory data demonstrates that the person has been exposed to a drinking water supply that exceeds the current applicable groundwater or drinking water criteria;
b) DHS has previously denied the person's request for blood testing for PFCs because the person's water supply did not exceed the current applicable groundwater or drinking water criteria;
c) the person lives in a community where there has been a suspected release of PFCs into the air or into the groundwater or drinking water; or
d) the person lives in a community where PFCs have been detected in the drinking water supply.
3. Requires DHS to assess and report to the public on the prevalence and incidence of indications known or suspected to be associated with exposure to PFCs within the exposed population if the community has been exposed to concentrations of PFCs that exceed a total of 50 parts per trillion or the current ambient groundwater quality standard.
4. Terminates the program on July 1, 2030.
5. Appropriates $300,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2021 to DHS.
6. Becomes effective on January 1, 2021.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 18, 2020
CRS/KS/kja