EPA accused of misleading public about ongoing production of harmful PFAS

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Federal regulators are falsely claiming that production of a dangerous PFAS chemical has been phased out in the US, according to a complaint filed this week by an environmental watchdog group alleging the statement is untrue since the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consistently finds the chemical and other PFAS in fluorinated plastic containers.

The complaint, filed October 29 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) under the Information Quality Act, calls the EPA’s claims that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is no longer produced or imported by the US “inaccurate, incomplete, and misleading.” PEER demands that the agency within 90 days retract or offer a defense for the information on its website.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for EPA to pretend these chemicals are no longer being manufactured when they are permeating our chain of commerce,” Kyla Bennett, PEER’s science policy director, said in a statement. “EPA’s conflicted position epitomizes an approach to PFAS control that is both irresolute and irresponsible.”

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of thousands of humanmade “forever chemicals” that persist in the environment and build up in the bodies of humans and animals, with some linked to health effects including cancers, fertility issues, high cholesterol and liver damage. PFOA is classified as “carcinogenic to humans” by an international cancer research group.

The EPA in 2006 launched a voluntary program that invited eight major companies, including DuPont and 3M, to phase out PFOA, with the goal of eliminating the chemical from emissions and products by 2015. However, the company Inhance Technologies, LLC continues making its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers using a fluorination process that keeps liquids from leaking out but results in the formation of PFOA and other types of PFAS.

Inhance makes hundreds of millions of containers each year using the technique, with the chemicals leaching into pesticides, personal care products, household cleaners and countless other products.

“EPA must be honest with the public and acknowledge that there are remaining sources of highly toxic PFOA, including the plastic containers fluorinated by Inhance Technologies and precursor chemicals frequently found in air and water that break down into PFOA in the environment,” said Betsy Southerland, a former EPA senior scientist and a former director in the agency’s Office of Water.

The EPA will review PEER’s complaint “and respond via appropriate channels,” said an agency spokesperson. “EPA is committed to combatting [PFAS] contamination. The agency is also committed to transparency and accuracy in its communications.”

The EPA states on its website that the manufacture and import of PFOA has been phased out in the US, with “small quantities” of the chemical “produced, imported, and used by companies not participating in the PFOA Stewardship Program.” However, the agency has expressed concern about PFOA leaching into pesticides stored in HDPE containers, calling in 2021 for states to “red tag that inventory and hold for now.”

In December 2023, the EPA ordered Inhance to stop producing PFAS chemicals when it manufactures its plastic containers, stating an EPA review of data on the company’s fluorination process revealed that PFAS “are still being manufactured during the company’s fluorination process and detected.”

The order was overturned in March 2024 by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which concluded that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority by issuing the order, agreeing with Inhance that the fluorination process the company has used for decades does not qualify as a “significant new use” under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The EPA did not appeal the ruling and withdrew further action against the company.

In July 2024, PEER and the Center for Environmental Health filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia alleging the EPA violated TSCA by failing to demand that Inhance stop making containers with the harmful fluorination process.

Earlier that month, the EPA granted a petition from PEER and other groups demanding the agency address the fluorination issue, stating that it would “promptly commence an appropriate proceeding under TSCA Section 6.” In September 2024, the agency issued a request for public comment on “the number, location, and uses of fluorinated containers” in the US, critical uses for the economy, national security or critical infrastructure, and alternatives to the fluorination process.

“EPA has identified information necessary to inform the Agency’s path forward with respect to regulation of these PFAS formed during the fluorination of plastic containers under TSCA section 6 and is issuing this notice to collect such information,” the agency stated in its notice.

Since issuing the request for public comment, the agency has not taken further steps to address the issue of PFAS in plastic containers, said Bennett.

 “It’s a travesty,” she said.

Featured Image: US EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. (Credit: US EPA. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.)