Members of New York's Drinking Water Quality Council joined together via webcast Tuesday from three different locations across the state to recommend new clean water standards when it comes to the chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS.

The chemicals came from firefighting foam that environmentalists say was abundantly used in the 1950s, '60s and '70s and seeped into the ground.

"We've been working very hard to get this committee to come up with a standard that is a health-based standard," says Adrienne Esposito, of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

The group voted that the maximum contamination levels for the toxic chemicals should be 10 parts per trillion. Esposito says that number is the lowest in the nation.

The recommended number will now be passed along to the state Department of Health.