The EPA today (April 19) announced that two widely used "forever chemicals" will be officially classified as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law, which will help to force polluters to clean up these toxic materials from our environment.
Under the final rule, PFOS and PFOA, industrial compounds that belong to the class of chemicals referred to as per- and polyfluorinated substances, will be listed as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Exposure to these substances has been linked to cancers, issues with the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children.
PFAS pollution rose to national attention several years ago when communities around the Fayetteville, NC, Chemours facility discovered the company had for decades been dumping the toxic chemical into the Cape Fear River, a drinking water source for millions of people. PFAS pollution has since been discovered in innumerable places ranging from air and ground to women's menstrual products. EPA Administrator Michael Regan recently visited Fayetteville to announce new agency rules affecting PFAS levels that will be allowed in treated drinking water.
Statement by Erin Carey, acting director of the N.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club:
"We're grateful that the EPA continues to find ways to fight what can only be described as an uphill battle against PFAS contamination. Right now, the regulation of these dangerous chemicals is far too narrow to be fully protective. With more than ten thousand of these compounds in production, we must move toward regulation of PFAS as a class, rather than this 'whack-a-mole' method of regulating individual compounds. Broader and more ambitious action will be required of this agency, of industry and of our elected leaders to meaningfully tackle the terrifying and widespread threat of 'forever chemicals' in our bodies and our environment."