PFAS

December 6, 2023

EPA orders company to stop making plastic containers that leach toxic PFAS

By Shannon Kelleher
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered a major company to stop producing hundreds of millions of plastic containers each year that contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which leach into countless products.

The so-called “forever chemicals” are produced by a fluorination technique that Inhance Technologies uses to prevent liquids from leaking out of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers. The resulting PFAS can leach into pesticides, personal care products, household cleaners, condiments, and many other liquids stored within the containers.

“I’m stunned but pleased that EPA took such strong action and hoping the decision remains intact through whatever court case Inhance is going to bring,” said Kyla Bennett, the science policy director for the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and a former EPA employee. “It wasn’t easy getting them there, but they got there and that’s what matters.”

Inhance is “basically the only one in the world” that uses this particular fluorination process to treat plastic containers, Bennett said, adding that plastic containers from two ounces up to 55 gallon drums are affected and “we’re talking about really all sectors of the economy.”

The order, issued Dec. 1 under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), states that nine long-chain PFAS chemicals have been identified in Inhance containers, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which was recently classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO). The order will go into effect Feb. 28, 2024.

December 1, 2023

Chemical found widely in the environment causes cancer, global experts determine

By Shannon Kelleher

A group of global scientific cancer experts this week classified a widespread chemical known as PFOA as carcinogenic to humans, confirming decades of research, and building on concerns about human and animal exposure to that chemical and to the larger class of manmade substances that are commonly known as “forever” chemicals because of their persistence in the environment. Separately, the experts deemed a related chemical called PFOS as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

The classifications, published Thursday in The Lancet Oncology, were determined by a working group of 30 experts from around the world through the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO). The experts convened in Lyon, France Nov. 7-14 to review published literature on the health risks of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Both are types of per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

“This latest action highlights and reaffirms the concerns we have been raising for decades that these man-made ‘forever chemicals’ present a serious threat to human health, mandating that appropriate steps be taken to prevent and address exposures,” said Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer for the Ohio-based firm Taft Law who has spent over two decades exposing the dangers of PFAS chemicals.

In classifying PFOA as carcinogenic, the IARC scientists said they found “sufficient” evidence for cancer in experimental animals exposed to PFOA and “strong” evidence that the chemical affects gene expression and immune response in humans exposed to PFOA. They also found limited evidence for cancer in humans, identifying a link to renal cell cancer and testicular cancer.

The scientists said that the research shows PFOS is “possibly” carcinogenic to humans. They said they found strong mechanistic evidence that the chemical affects gene expression and immune response in exposed humans, along with several other key characteristics of carcinogens. They also found limited evidence linking PFOS to cancer in experimental evidence but ‘inadequate evidence’ linking it to cancer in humans.

It remains to be determined how, or if, the new classifications may impact thousands of lawsuits that are pending in US courts against PFAS makers DuPont and 3M. The companies have been sued by individuals as well as by drinking water utilities and municipalities over alleged harms tied to PFAS contamination.

On Monday, a US appeals court turned back a large class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Ohio residents, finding there was not sufficient proof that the companies caused the exposure alleged in the case. Lead plaintiff Kevin Hardwick, who worked as a firefighter for 40 years and used PFAS-containing foams, brought the suit in 2018, alleging that the companies caused his blood to become contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of PFAS chemicals. Hardwick asked for a panel of scientists to study the effects of PFAS in his body and for medical monitoring.

November 24, 2023

After historic drinking water settlements, PFAS personal injury lawsuits loom

By Shannon Kelleher

In the wake of landmark settlements requiring chemical giants 3M and DuPont to pay billions to US water systems for alleged toxic chemical contamination, litigation over personal injuries from PFAS exposure is starting to move forward.

The first round of personal injury cases to go to trial will involve people who developed one of four diseases after drinking water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from firefighting foam used at airports or military sites in Colorado and Pennsylvania, which seeped into nearby communities’ drinking water, according to lawyers for plaintiffs.

No date has been set yet for a bellwether trial, which is probably at least a year down the road, said Anne McGinness Kearse, an attorney with the Motley Rice law firm, which will be representing plaintiffs in the litigation. Attorneys for both sides are currently in the process of determining which plaintiffs will be the first to have their cases heard. They are due to report a joint proposal to the court by Dec. 1. As with the water supplier cases, 3M and DuPont are the main defendants, said Kearse.

A separate round of litigation will focus on people exposed through occupational exposure to PFAS, a group that mostly includes firefighters who have been exposed to the chemicals through their firefighting gear and in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), which has been used for decades to help quench fires.

“We are seeing what we believe are increases in the rates of cancer in our members at younger ages,” said Sean DeCrane, director of health and safety operational services at the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). “That gives us a lot of concern.”

November 10, 2023

EPA data shows US toxic PFAS waste problem is worsening, watchdog group says

By Shannon Kelleher

The average amount of waste containing toxic PFAS chemicals that is shipped around the US each month has almost quadrupled since 2018, according to an analysis of government data by a watchdog group.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data points to about 10,344 shipments totaling almost 27 million kilograms of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) waste in the last five years, since the agency first began collecting the data.

The findings, released Nov. 9, reflect “a small percentage, we believe, of the amount of PFAS waste that is being generated, transported, stored, and disposed of in the US,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which authored the report. “There’s no reporting requirement.”

The EPA data supports the need for the agency to regulate PFAS under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C, which authorizes the agency to set regulatory standards for the management of hazardous waste from “cradle to grave,” says the report. PEER and the Environmental Law Clinic at Berkeley, on behalf of the Green Science Policy Institute and community groups around the country, petitioned the EPA in 2019 and 2020 to regulate PFAS as hazardous waste.

The EPA did not respond to request for comment.

Exposure to PFAS “forever chemicals,” which do not break down naturally, has been linked to health problems including thyroid, kidney, and testicular cancer, as well as ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and hypertension during pregnancy. About 97% of Americans have PFAS in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control. People are exposed to the chemicals in water or food, the air they breathe, or from using products made with PFAS.

November 8, 2023

PFAS industry spent over $110 million on recent lobbying, report finds

By Shannon Kelleher

Chemical industry advocates have spent more than $110 million in recent years on lobbying efforts that included opposing laws designed to reduce the use of, and exposure to, a group of toxic chemicals known as PFAS, according to a new study.

Lobbying expenditures from 2019 to 2022 undermined toxic chemicals legislation that would impact industries that make and use per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to Food & Water Watch, which published the report on Tuesday. During that period, only four of more than 130 bills introduced by Congress to help clean up PFAS became law.

“There’s a whole disproportionate amount of money being spent by the opposing side to try to avoid any kind of meaningful action,” said Amanda Starbuck, research director of Food & Water Watch. “If we want to stop the production and the contamination from PFAS, even before we get into the cleanup part of it, we really need some comprehensive legislation. I think this report shows what’s standing in the way.”

PFAS, also called “forever chemicals,” do not break down naturally and are found in about 83% of US waterways, according to a 2022 analysis. About 97% of Americans have PFAS in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Exposure to the chemicals has been linked to numerous health problems, including thyroid, kidney, and testicular cancer, as well as ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and hypertension during pregnancy. Last March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals.

The companies 3M, DuPont, and others agreed to settlements over the summer that will provide communities with billions of dollars to test for PFAS and remove them from drinking water.

To investigate how much money is potentially being used to fight PFAS legislation, researchers dug into a database of lobbying disclosure forms made available by the US House of Representatives. The team focused on six top PFAS manufacturers, the companies 3M, Archroma, Chemours, Daikin, Honeywell, and Solvay, as well as Dow and DuPont, which historically made or used PFAS, and the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

The PFAS companies paid 28 lobbyists to fight a 2019 bill that would have designated two major types of PFAS as hazardous substances under the Superfund program, the report found. The PFAS Action Act passed the House but was killed by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where a majority of current committee members accepted campaign contributions from PFAS manufacturers or the ACC, the report found. The committee’s Democratic majority received about $70,000 from top chemical companies from 2019 to 2022, while the Republican minority received nearly $400,000, according to the report.

November 7, 2023

PFAS chemicals found in 71% of tested Wisconsin wells

By Shannon Kelleher

The majority of private wells providing water for 450 Wisconsin homes tested positive for harmful chemicals, though mostly at low levels, according to a new study.

The analysis, published November 2, tested the wells for 44 types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Researchers found that 71% of the wells were contaminated with 4% of the private wells containing PFAS levels that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed maximum contaminant levels. Roughly 1% had PFAS levels above the state’s recommended groundwater standards. The researchers said their work is the first to sample shallow groundwater away from known PFAS contamination sites in the state. Examining well water is important because about one quarter of Wisconsin residents get their drinking water from over 800,000 private wells.

“A big takeaway is we found PFAS in the majority of wells, but at very small levels in most of those locations,” said Steven Elmore, program director of the Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). To find it at detectable levels in shallow groundwater is not surprising, he said, noting that PFAS has been found in rainwater across the country and in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, which flank the state.

The study was a collaboration between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

There are over 12,000 types of PFAS, many of which cannot be detected in water using currently available tests. These so-called “forever chemicals” do not break down naturally and can leach into drinking water from industrial sites, sewage treatment plants, landfills, or certain firefighting foams. A 2022 analysis found detectable PFAS levels in about 83% of US waterways. A recent study found that exposure to some PFAS may increase thyroid cancer risk, while past research has linked the chemicals to health problems including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, and ulcerative colitis.

The companies 3M, DuPont, and others agreed to settlements over the summer that will provide communities with billions of dollars to test for PFAS and remove them from drinking water. Last month, three residents of New Milford, Connecticut filed a lawsuit alleging that the Aquarion Water Company provided water to the public that it knew was contaminated with elevated PFAS levels.

October 26, 2023

PFAS chemicals linked to thyroid cancer, human data suggests

By Shannon Kelleher

Exposure to some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may increase thyroid cancer risk, according to a study published Tuesday.

The analysis, which compared blood samples from 88 people who developed thyroid cancer with samples from people who did not, is the first to document an association between PFAS and thyroid cancer, which had been previously hypothesized. Past research has linked these endocrine-disrupting chemicals to thyroid disease, a condition in which the gland produces too many or too few hormones. The new research adds to a growing list of health problems linked to PFAS, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and hypertension during pregnancy.

The study, which looked at eight different types of so-called “forever chemicals,” found that doubly high levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the blood corresponded with a 56% higher risk for thyroid cancer diagnosis. The PFAS chemicals perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorooctylphosphonic acid (PFOPA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) were also found to be associated with thyroid cancer.

“Although preliminary, this is an important study highlighting the risk of thyroid cancer derived from PFAS contamination of water and soil,” said Luca Chiavato, a professor of endocrinology at the University of Pavia in Italy who was not involved with the study.

September 26, 2023

PFAS posing threat to wildlife, scientists say

Wildlife exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) poses added added threats to species already struggling to adapt to habitat loss and harmful climate change, a new paper warns.

In a discussion paper published Tuesday in Science of the Total Environment, scientists wrote that there is enough evidence of the toxicity of persistent chemicals such as PFAS in humans to cause substantial concern about the same chemicals’ impacts on wildlife. Considering toxic chemicals’ health harms to wildlife is especially important, they write, as multiple pressures cause steep drops in biodiversity worldwide.

“There’s an incredible body of scientific evidence linking PFAS to health harms in humans, and this should really serve as an indicator of the potential health harms that may be occurring in wildlife globally,” said David Andrews, a co-author on the paper and a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental advocacy group.

PFAS are commonly used for their stain- and water-resistant properties and have been used for years as a common ingredient in firefighting foam and many household products. Almost all US residents have PFAS in their blood, and the chemicals contaminate water systems serving millions of people nationwide. PFAS are abundant in the natural environment, as well: According to one analysis by the Waterkeeper Alliance, over 80% of natural waterways are contaminated with the chemicals.

Toxic across taxa
There are thousands of types of PFAS, and scientists have found evidence that many can impair the immune system and spur developmental and reproductive problems, as well as cause thyroid and hormone disorders, liver problems, cancers, and nervous system effects.

“What we know [about health harms] in humans indicates that this is a threat to wildlife species globally,” said Andrews.

September 18, 2023

Certain common chemicals associated with higher odds of cancer in women

By Carey Gillam

Women exposed to several widely used chemicals appear to face increased odds for ovarian and other certain types of cancers, including a doubling of odds for melanoma, according to new research funded by the US government.

Using data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a team of academic researchers found evidence that women diagnosed with some “hormonally-driven” cancers had exposures to certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used in thousands of household and industrial products, including in stain- and heat-resistant items.

They found similar links between women diagnosed with cancer and high exposures to phenols, which are commonly used in food packaging, dyes and personal care products.

The study, published late Sunday in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, did not find similar associations between the chemicals and cancer diagnoses in men.

PFAS chemicals, in particular, may disrupt hormone functions specific to women – a potential mechanism for increasing their odds of hormone-related cancers, the researchers determined. Hormonally active cancers are common and hard to cure, making deeper inquiry into potential environmental causes critical, the researchers said.

“People should care about this because we know that there is widespread human exposure to these chemicals and we have documented data on that,” said Max Aung, assistant professor of environmental health at USC Kreck School of Medicine and a senior author of the study.

“These chemicals can increase the risk of various different health outcomes and they can alter your biological pathways… that is important to know so that we can better prevent exposures and mitigate risks,” Aung said.

August 30, 2023

Historic 3M PFAS settlement gets preliminary court approval

By Shannon Kelleher

A federal court on Tuesday granted preliminary approval for a “landmark” $12.5 billion payout by chemical conglomerate 3M to resolve claims in a class action lawsuit and help public drinking water providers remove toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from communities around the United States.

The court approval comes a week after DuPont and related companies received preliminary approval for a $1.185 billion settlement that similarly addresses class action claims over toxic PFAS contamination in US water systems. Together, the deals mark the largest drinking water settlements in history.

Both settlements relate to water system contamination by PFAS in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), used as a firefighting agent and widely used by military and civilian airports as well as municipal fire departments.

The AFFF litigation is one aspect of more extensive and ongoing litigation against 3M and DuPont that blame the companies for knowingly contaminating the environment with PFAS for decades despite evidence that the substances pose a risk to human health. Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the litigation have uncovered internal corporate records dating back to the 1960s revealing corporate concerns about PFAS that were not shared with the public or regulators.

“These new proposed settlements for public water providers in the AFFF litigation represent not only historic amounts of potential recoveries for victims of PFAS contamination, but also reflect the decades of work our team has undertaken to make sure the information these companies had – but withheld – as to the threat these ‘forever chemicals’ pose to human health and the environment is finally revealed to the public, and that the proper parties are held financially responsible for the enormous damage caused,” plaintiffs’ attorney Rob Bilott, who has led PFAS litigation for more than 20 years, said in a press release.