Read the full article by Iris Myers (EWG)
“WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency must take a series of steps to protect public health and the environment from the toxic fluorinated ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS from being incinerated or dumped in landfills, wrote more than 30 environmental and public health organizations in comments submitted to the agency this week.
The groups provided comments on the EPA’s interim guidance, released by the former Trump administration in December 2020, on the destruction and disposal of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and materials containing the chemical compounds.
Without clear and effective guidance from the EPA, communities across the country are struggling to find methods and technologies to manage waste contaminated with PFAS. Current methods don’t work and only perpetuate the lifecycle of pollution of these chemicals into land, air and drinking water sources, the groups warned.
PFAS chemicals, unlike many other pollutants, do not break down, making them some of the most persistent contaminants in the environment, which is also why they are in the blood of virtually every person on Earth.
PFAS chemicals are currently not regulated under the nation’s Clean Air, Clean Water or waste rules. Commenters expressed concerns that the interim guidance by the EPA, if adopted as currently written, would not provide adequate protection to the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color, who often live near landfills and incineration facilities…”