EPA updates data on PFOA and PFOS production in the US — The Guardian
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has changed the wording on its website regarding two compounds from the PFAS group — PFOA and PFOS. It previously stated that the production and import of PFOA in the United States had been phased out. The EPA now says that certain quantities of the substance may be manufactured, imported and used by companies. The agency also noted that PFOS is produced in the US for some limited ongoing uses, The Guardian reports.
Complaint over EPA data
The change was made after a complaint by the nonprofit organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). It pointed out that the EPA allows PFOA production in the US, although the previous wording on the agency's website gave the impression that the substance was no longer manufactured or used in the country.
In a response dated September 18, EPA Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Douglas Troutman said that the agency was updating its web pages in response to PEER's request. The EPA did not provide an immediate comment to The Guardian.
Dispute over Inhance containers
The report is linked to a long-running dispute involving Texas-based company Inhance, which produces up to 200 million plastic containers a year. At the end of 2020, PEER reported finding high levels of PFAS in pesticides stored in Inhance containers. A subsequent EPA investigation found widespread contamination of plastic containers and prompted the agency to request information from the company.
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In March 2022, the EPA required Inhance to immediately stop producing the containers. At the end of 2023, the agency again ordered the company to stop manufacturing them, but a federal appeals court overturned the ban. PEER's lawsuit was later dismissed because the judge ruled that the organization lacked standing to bring such a claim.
Inhance says that PFOA in its products is an impurity rather than a substance that the containers transfer to their contents. The company also reported a 90% reduction in the levels of such impurities and cited independent peer-reviewed risk assessments which, it says, found no unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.
The EPA previously stated that virtually no level of PFOA and PFOS exposure in drinking water is safe. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies PFOA as carcinogenic to humans and PFOS as possibly carcinogenic.
