EPA took the first step toward regulating “forever chemicals” leaching from plastic barrels, a win for environmental health advocates following defeat in a federal appeals court.
The agency announced Thursday it granted an April petition from seven advocacy groups asking regulators to review the risks of PFOA, PFNA and PFDA — three substances in the PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, family — created as a byproduct of fluorination, a process used to make the insides of plastic containers more durable.
Environmental and public health groups raised concerns about the health risks tied to exposure to PFAS from the ubiquitous containers, which are used for a wide range of household and everyday products.
The agency’s announcement comes four months after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked orders EPA sent to Inhance Technologies, the single company leading U.S. plastics fluorination, that required it to halt operations until it can find a way to stop unintentionally producing PFAS.
