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DHHS: bottled water testing meets state standards; environmental health tracking program understaffed
Summary
DHHS told the Legislative Study Commission that the bottled-water manufacturers it reviews meet state and federal PFAS testing criteria and that its Environmental Health Tracking Program has lost several grant-funded positions and has unfilled vacancies due to a state hiring freeze.
Colleen, a representative of the Department of Health and Human Services, briefed the commission on two items requested at a prior meeting.
On bottled water, Colleen said DHHS conducts an annual review of bottled-water manufacturers’ testing results as part of registration and that, in the department’s review, all evaluated products met applicable state and federal criteria. She said DHHS can publish an aggregate report confirming that reviewed bottled-water supplies meet state and federal standards, but cannot easily list brand names because much bottled water is sold under private labels.
Colleen also updated the commission on the Environmental Health Tracking Program’s staffing: in 2022 the program had five partially grant-funded positions and one fully funded position; today the program has one fully funded position and one partially funded position and three vacancies that cannot be filled because of a state hiring freeze.
Why it matters: The bottled-water update is intended to reassure consumers that products reviewed by DHHS meet regulatory criteria, while the staffing update signals reduced internal capacity to maintain and expand environmental-health tracking work.
What’s next: DHHS offered to provide an aggregate report of its bottled-water reviews on the department website and the commission noted the program’s vacancies as a constraint on future tracking and outreach work.
