U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he would create national drinking water standards for a group of toxic chemicals plaguing communities across Michigan and other states if elected president.

Sanders made the announcement Tuesday during a tour of New Hampshire focused on ending corporate greed, one of the top themes of his Democratic primary campaign. The Vermont senator said clean drinking water is “a human right," and pledged to hold corporate polluters responsible for cleaning up local water supplies contaminated with toxic PFAS.

“Corporate greed is threatening one of the most basic necessities of life: clean water,” Sanders said in a statement.

Bernie 2020 Deputy Communications Director Sarah Ford said Sanders would set “aggressive standards," but the campaign did not provide specific details about how contamination limits would be set.

“It’s absurd that we have to say this in America in 2020: When you turn on the tap in your home in Michigan, you have a right to expect that the water coming out is clean,” Ford said in a statement."

Michigan is entering its third year of a statewide response effort to mitigate the pervasive presence of PFAS chemicals in drinking water. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy recently proposed maximum drinking water standards for seven types of PFAS.

The man-made chemicals were widely used in manufacturing, firefighting on military bases and airports and ubiquitous household consumer products. PFAS chemicals break down slowly in the body and exposure is linked to various adverse health effects, including a higher risk of cancer and developmental problems in children.

More than 70 contaminated sites were found by a PFAS response team formed under the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. At least 1.9 Michigan residents are drinking water with some of the toxic chemicals, according to state figures.

Trace amounts of PFAS are likely already present in the blood of nearly every American, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. People can be exposed to PFAS through air, water, or soil.

Michigan established cleanup criteria for groundwater used as drinking water of 70 ppt of PFOS and PFOA. The state allows businesses to discharge 12 ppt into surface water, and holds wastewater plants accountable if discharged levels are higher.

The EPA has a 70 ppt advisory level used to determine when drinking water could be harmful, but there is no enforceable standard for PFAS in drinking water.

Sanders didn’t say what he thinks the standard should be, a hotly debated topic in the scientific and business communities.

Sanders specifically called out 3M and DuPont for their liability in spreading PFAS. Both companies manufactured products that contained PFAS and have been linked to contamination in Michigan and other states.

New Hampshire recently set some of the nation’s toughest standards for PFAS, but 3M sued the state to overturn the newly enacted environmental laws. The state of New Hampshire is also suing DuPont for PFAS found in drinking water and packaging materials.

Sanders said lobbying efforts and contributions from corporations like 3M and DuPont halted the Environmental Protection Agency from setting limits on PFAS.

“Companies like 3M and DuPont have known for decades that these chemicals can build up in people’s blood, and that they are toxic," Sanders said in a statement. “The least they could do is pay to clean up the mess that they made. Instead, they’re spending millions on CEO pay, Washington lobbyists and lawsuits against states that pass clean water laws.”

Sanders criticized his colleagues in Congress for removing provisions of a national defense funding bill that would have required cleanup of PFAS-contaminated communities and industrial water pollution. Trump had threatened to veto the legislation if it included those provisions.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced the House will consider a separate bill designating PFAS as hazardous substances.

Sanders is the lead sponsor of the WATER Act, which would provide funding to mitigate PFAS contamination. U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, introduced a companion bill in the House.

Sanders also pledged to appoint officials in the Justice Department and EPA who will crack down on industrial pollution contaminating our water supplies.

“Here’s my pledge: when we defeat Donald Trump, we are going to end this kind of greed,” Sanders said in a statement. “Not only will we support state efforts to enforce stronger clean water laws, we are going to create federal clean water standards that force these companies to clean up their mess.”

Democrats running for president largely agree on the importance of protecting the environment and clean drinking water, often using Flint’s lead contamination as an example. Sanders isn’t the first candidate to suggest a national PFAS standard for drinking water but is among the most likely to secure the Democratic nomination.

Sanders and Democratic rival U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., signed a May letter demanding the Trump administration release federal research on PFAS consumption limits. Warren has said her administration would designate PFAS as hazardous substances.