EPA acknowledges Pfoa may still be produced, imported and used
The US Environmental Protection Agency has revised its website to acknowledge that Pfoa may still be produced, imported and used, reversing wording that said the chemical had been phased out. The change matters because the EPA considers virtually no exposure to Pfoa or the related compound Pfos in drinking water safe, while the chemicals have been linked to serious diseases.
The revision followed a complaint from the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which said the earlier claim was misleading. Houston-based Inhance, which says it was not among the eight firms that agreed to stop producing Pfoa, makes up to 200 million plastic containers a year; testing found Pfoa leaching from some containers, a claim the company disputes. The EPA’s 2015 agreement was a phase-out, not a ban, and the dispute over Inhance’s containers has been in court for six years.
- The EPA changed its website to acknowledge Pfoa may still be produced.
- Inhance makes up to 200 million containers annually.
- The dispute highlights the limits of voluntary chemical phase-outs.
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PFOA and PFOS are long-lasting chemicals in a group often called “forever chemicals”. They have been used in products and industrial processes, and can persist in the environment; studies have linked exposure to health problems.
The US Environmental Protection Agency sets guidance on chemical risks and drinking water. In 2015, eight companies agreed to phase out PFOA production, but that agreement was not a general ban on making, importing or using it.
Inhance, a Houston company that treats plastic containers, says it was not part of that agreement. The case over whether PFOA can leach from some of its containers has been contested in court, raising questions about how the phase-out applies to products made by other companies.
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The case for
The EPA should describe the chemical’s status accurately: a phase-out agreement with some firms was not a legal ban, and saying Pfoa had been phased out could mislead the public about ongoing production, imports or use. Clear wording matters when the agency considers virtually no exposure in drinking water safe and potential sources of exposure remain disputed.
The case against
The revised wording could be seen as giving too much weight to the possibility of continued production or use, obscuring the substantial phase-out effort and creating unnecessary alarm while the evidence about particular products remains contested. A careful account should distinguish the limited scope of the 2015 agreement from broader claims about exposure and health risks, so the public is not left with an exaggerated impression of how widespread the problem is.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “EPA quietly backtracks on claims US has phased out toxic Pfas compounds”.