Read the full article by Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams)
“A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by a pair of environmental advocacy groups accuses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of ‘wrongfully withholding test data and other vital information’ regarding the presence of so-called ‘forever chemicals‘ in millions of fluorinated plastic containers.
The lawsuit—filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Center for Environmental Health (CEH)—argues that the EPA is violating Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) disclosure requirements by improperly classifying health and safety data as trade secrets.
Referring to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—commonly known as forever chemicals because they do not biodegrade and accumulate in the human body—the suit also accuses the EPA of ‘denying the public access to the results of testing showing the levels of PFAS in fluorinated plastic containers and their contents along with the identities of the products in which these toxic materials are present.’
PEER and CEH said that after they filed a Freedom of Information Act request ‘for documents shedding light on the health risks associated with PFAS in fluorinated containers,’ the EPA granted trade secret protection sought by Inhance Technologies, LLC.” …