The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly backtracked on a claim that the US has phased out two of the most dangerous Pfas compounds – Pfoa and Pfos.
uncertain
US → backtrack → compounds
The EPA has found that virtually no level of exposure to either in drinking water is safe, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies Pfoa as “carcinogenic to humans” and Pfos as “possibly carcinogenic”.
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Agency → find → humans
Still, the EPA is allowing Houston-based Inhance to produce containers from which Pfoa has been found to leach at high levels into the containers’ contents.
asserted
Pfoa → allow → contents
The company makes up to 200m plastic containers annually used across the US economy.
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company → make → economy
The containers present an “ongoing serious and ongoing threat to public health,” said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist who is now science policy director with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit.
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who → present → profit
Inhance has denied that the chemical leaches out in measurable levels, and told The Guardian in a statement that any Pfoa from its products are an “impurity”
The “phase-out” was put in place after documents made public during landmark early 2000s litigation on DuPont’s Pfas pollution in West Virginia laid bare the ubiquitous chemicals’ dangers and serious health risks.
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documents → deny → dangers
In 2015, facing intense pressure to act, the EPA reached an agreement with eight Pfas producers to “phase out” production of Pfoa and Pfos, a similar chemical produced by 3M.
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EPA → face → 3M.
Though the agency stopped short of a ban, the “phase out” was viewed as major progress on reining in Pfas pollution.
asserted
out → stop → pollution
Officials often repeated the claim that the chemicals had been phased out, giving the impression that they were no longer produced or used in the US.
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they → repeat → US
Last month, the EPA quietly changed wording on its website that claimed Pfoa and Pfos had been phased out..
asserted
Pfoa → change → website
In fact, both have been produced in the US this whole time, and at levels that independent science suggest are quite high.
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science → produce → levels
The EPA site previously stated: “The manufacture and import of Pfoa has also been phased out in the United States.”
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manufacture → state → States
It now reads: “Quantities of Pfoa may be produced, imported, and used by companies …
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Quantities → read → companies
The change was made in response to a complaint filed by Peer, which pointed out that the EPA was allowing Pfoa to be produced in the US.
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Pfoa → make → US
Under the Information Quality Act, data and information made public by federal agencies be complete and accurate.
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data → make → agencies
“They were giving the false impression and saying, ‘Nothing to see here because Pfoa is not being produced in the US,’” Bennett told the Guardian.
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Bennett → give → Guardian
“But that was demonstrably false, and now they have admitted it.”
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they → admit → it
An epidemiological panel convened during the West Virginia DuPont case found Pfoa and Pfos likely causes cancer, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease.
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Pfoa → convene → cancer
The EPA did not immediately provide a comment to the Guardian.
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EPA → provide → Guardian
Inhance in its statement to The Guardian stressed that there was never a ban in place and it was not one of the eight companies that agreed to stop producing Pfoa.
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that → stress → Pfoa
The reversal underscores why phase-outs are inadequate, and the EPA needs to put in place bans, Bennett said.
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Bennett → underscore → bans
“If you have a chemical and there’s no safe level of it, then why on earth would you allow it to be manufactured?” she said.
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she → have → earth
“This all makes perfect sense if you understand the reality that the EPA is an arm of industry, especially under the Trump administration.”
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EPA → make → administration
The EPA’s reversal marks the latest twist in a six-year legal battle over Inhance’s Pfoa-infused containers.
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reversal → mark → containers
The EPA seemed unaware that Pfas were being added to plastic containers until late 2020 testing by Peer found high levels of Pfas in pesticides stored in Inhance bins.
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testing → seem → bins
The subsequent EPA investigation unearthed wide-scale contamination of plastic containers, prompting the agency to subpoena Inhance for information.
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investigation → unearth → information
It publicly reminded the plastics industry that companies must submit for a safety review if they manufacture Pfoa.
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they → remind → Pfoa
Inhance dismissed the agency’s evidence and claimed its containers did not leech Pfoa, but the EPA disagreed, again ordering Inhance in March 2022 to “immediately cease” production.
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EPA → dismiss → production
Two weeks later, Inhance put out a press release stating that its products did not “impart” Pfoa, and it did not cease production.
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it → put → production
Subsequent EPA testing found the containers still contained Pfoa.
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containers → find → Pfoa
Facing legal pressure from Peer, the EPA by December 2023 again ordered Inhance to stop making the containers.
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EPA → face → containers
That ban was overturned by a federal appeals court.
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ban → overturn → court
Peer later sued, but the case was dismissed because a federal judge ruled that the group lacked standing.
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group → sue → standing
In its statement, Inhance said that it made adjustments to reduce by 90% the level of Pfoa “impurities”.
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it → say → impurities
“Published peer-reviewed third-party risk assessments conclude that estimated exposure does not present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment,” Inhance chief operating officer Patricia van Ee wrote.
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Ee → publish → health
“We have shared our process data with EPA throughout its review.”
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We → share → review
The EPA appears to have given up on enforcing the phase out and legally pressuring Inhance.
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EPA → appear → Inhance
Still, the EPA maintained on its website that Pfoa had been phased out of production, drawing the formal complaint from Peer.
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Pfoa → maintain → Peer
In a response dated 18 September, EPA assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention, Douglas Troutman, wrote: “In response to Peer’s request, the EPA is updating its websites.”
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EPA → date → websites
The update also notes that Pfos is in US production in some “limited, ongoing uses”.
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Pfos → note → uses
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
