“US EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has pledged to address possible health hazards posed by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). But the agency’s approach will apparently focus on contamination by the legacy chemicals PFOA and PFOS.
Meanwhile, thousands of PFASs could remain in active commerce, attendees heard at a recent agency summit.
Speaking before state representatives, federal agencies, trade groups and NGOs at the 22 May meeting in Washington, DC, Mr Pruitt announced plans to take such actions on legacy PFASs as developing a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water and enabling cleanup efforts.
Absent from the proposed plan, however, was an approach for assessing the thousands of PFASs used in such consumer products as food packaging, firefighting foams, building materials and textiles.
Industry groups hold that there is no evidence newer ‘short-chain’ PFASs carry the same risks as their ‘long-chain’ predecessors. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), which are not regulated, have been phased out under a stewardship programme and are no longer manufactured in the US…
But some NGOs and state officials are unconvinced on the safety of short-chain PFASs and would like to see them regulated as a class…
Mr Olson recommends that the EPA halt approval of new PFASs and issue significant new use rules (Snurs) limiting uses of those now in commerce. And he said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should revoke approval of the 19 PFASs allowed as food contact substances…
Manufacturers have sought approval for 900 PFASs in the past 12 years, almost all before TSCA was amended in 2016, said Mr Morris. He did not say how many were approved, but he said the EPA has data from some 900 studies on approximately 200 PFASs.”
Read the full article by Julie Miller