PFAS
6590PFBS
The health basis on which the EPA sets this contaminant's legal limit. Reported verbatim from the regulatory record — it is not a diagnosis or a prediction about any individual.
Thyroid effects; part of the PFAS mixture hazard-index rule.
- Maximum contaminant level
- NoneLegal MCLEnforceable federal limit
- Health goal
- 0.0 ng/LHealth goal (MCLG)No safe exposure level
- Category
- PFASCategory
- Reporting unit
- ng/LReporting unit
Regulatory basis
How PFBS is regulated
What the enforceable limit actually obliges a utility to do, and how it differs from the health-based goal it is measured against.
PFBS carries no enforceable federal MCL. Nothing in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act currently obliges a system to keep PFBS below a specific number, so a reported value cannot be “over the limit” in the federal sense. The health goal on record is 0, and a goal is advisory: it carries no compliance obligation and no violation follows from exceeding it. Individual states may set their own enforceable limits, and monitoring may still be required under other programs.
Results are reported in ng/L. A laboratory result and the limits above are only comparable when both are expressed in that same unit — a value in a different unit will be off by orders of magnitude. WaterQualityLens groups PFBS under PFAS for navigation; the grouping is ours, the limits are the regulator’s.
The record for PFBS
- Enforceable limit (MCL)
- None set federally
- Health goal (MCLG)
- 0
- Reporting unit
- ng/L
- Category
- PFAS
- Contaminant code
- 6590
Limits as published by EPA and state primacy agencies. This page reports regulatory and certification records; it does not assess anyone’s exposure and makes no health prediction.
Certification scope
Which certifications actually remove PFBS
Only NSF/ANSI 53, 58 and 401 are health-contaminant standards. A product certified only to Standard 42 (aesthetics) or 372 (lead-free materials) has not been verified to reduce PFBS, however the box is worded.
NSF/ANSI 53
Counts — health standardHealth effects: lead, VOCs, cysts, chromium, and (post-P473) PFAS reduction.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 53 claim for PFBS. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 58
Counts — health standardReverse osmosis: dissolved inorganics, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and total PFAS.
2 filters in our registry hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI 58 claim for PFBS, listed below.
NSF/ANSI 401
Counts — health standardEmerging/incidental compounds: pharmaceuticals and select trace contaminants.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 401 claim for PFBS. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 42
Does not count — not a health standardAesthetic effects: chlorine, taste, odor, particulates. No health-contaminant protection.
No registry product lists PFBS under NSF/ANSI 42. It would not count as verification of PFBS reduction in any case.
NSF/ANSI 372
Does not count — not a health standardLead-free materials (manufacturing content only). Not a water-treatment claim.
No registry product lists PFBS under NSF/ANSI 372. It would not count as verification of PFBS reduction in any case.
NSF/ANSI P473
Retired standardRetired 2022 PFOA/PFOS standard; absorbed into NSF/ANSI 53 and 58.
No current certification should rest on NSF/ANSI P473 alone. No registry product references it for PFBS.
Counts are of active products in the WaterQualityLens filter registry holding a verified claim for contaminant code 6590 under that standard, as recorded by the certifying body (NSF, WQA, or IAPMO). Certification is granted per contaminant, not per product: a filter certified to Standard 53 for one contaminant is not thereby certified for PFBS.
Certified reduction · commercial placements
Filters verified to reduce PFBS
These filters hold an independent NSF/ANSI health certification (Standard 53, 58, or 401) specifically for PFBS. Certification against a health standard means an accredited lab verified the filter reduces this contaminant — a materials-only claim such as NSF 42 or 372 does not.
- Verified PartnerFrizzlife
M800 Under-Sink Reverse Osmosis
FZ-M800Under-sink RO$399NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
- Verified PartnerWaterdrop
G3P800 Under-Sink RO
WD-G3P800Under-sink RO$549NSF/ANSI 58Certified by NSF
Hardware links are affiliate placements marked “Verified Partner.” Products appear here solely because they hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI health certification for PFBS; commercial arrangements never affect this list.