US EPA

Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) is a member of a larger group of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This assessment is part of EPA’s efforts to increase the amount of research and information that is publicly available on chemicals in the PFAS family. It was developed by the U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA).

The PFBS toxicity assessment is one of the key goals of the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan and provides qualitative and quantitative toxicity information that can be used by federal partners, states, tribes, and local communities, along with specific exposure and other relevant information to determine, under the appropriate regulations and statutes, if and when it is necessary to take action to address potential risk associated with human exposures to this PFAS. This assessment is available for use across multiple U.S. EPA program and regional offices, other federal agencies, states, tribes, external stakeholders, and other entities as needed. One use of this assessment is to update and replace the existing 2014 Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Value (PPRTV) assessment for PFBS used by the U.S. EPA’s Superfund Program.

The PFBS assessment provides toxicity values and information about the adverse effects of the chemical and the evidence on which the value is based, including the strengths and limitations of the data. All users, including risk assessors and risk managers, are advised to review the information, including potential uncertainties, provided in this document to ensure that the assessment is appropriate for the circumstances (e.g., exposure pathways, concentrations, presence of sensitive subpopulations) in question and the risk management decisions that would be supported by the risk assessment.

The PFBS human health toxicity values presented in this assessment were developed based on the best available science. The assessment provides high-quality evaluations and conclusions drawn from publicly available information on the toxicity of PFBS. This assessment is not a regulation; rather, it provides a critical part of the scientific foundation for risk assessment decision making.

U.S. EPA. Human Health Toxicity Values for Perfluorobutane Sulfonic Acid and Related Compound Potassium Perfluorobutane Sulfonate. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-20/345F, 2021.