The Environmental Protection Agency has added two new permanent chemicals to its list of hazards found in everyday products such as cookware, furniture and cosmetics.
The agency has listed perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Superfund Act that requires industries to pay for cleanup efforts for toxins that end up in the water supply. during production.
The compounds are part of a larger group of permanent chemicals known as PFAS, which can build up and persist in the human body for long periods, and have been linked to cancer and organ damage.
The measures will hold industries responsible for cleaning up and paying for permanent chemicals that leach into soil and groundwater, which can cost tens of millions of dollars.
Forever chemicals, also called PFAS, are found in everyday products like makeup, furniture, and nonstick cookware that can end up in soil and drinking water.
The Environmental Protection Agency received $1 billion in funding from the Biden administration to enforce a limit on the amount of permanent chemicals allowed in drinking water. Products like nonstick pans contain these permanent chemicals that end up in soil and groundwater during the production process. EPA requires chemicals to be less than four parts per billion
The Environmental Protection Agency received $1 billion in funding from the Biden administration to enforce a limit on the amount of permanent chemicals allowed in drinking water. EPA requires chemicals to be less than four parts per billion
“No one should have to worry in 2024 about whether their well water, their produce or even their clothing is contaminated with toxic chemicals, but unfortunately, that is the reality for millions of Americans,” said Lisa Frank, CEO of Environment America Research & Policy. Center Office in Washington.
Forever chemicals have been used since the 1940s in industry and consumer products, including nonstick frying pans, water-repellent sports equipment, stain-resistant carpets, and cosmetics.
These compounds can easily enter the bloodstream after a person drinks water, uses certain products, or eats foods that contain them.
Once in the bloodstream, PFAS can lodge in healthy tissues, where they can begin to damage the immune system, liver, kidneys, and other organs.
Under the Superfund law, PFOA and PFOS chemicals are not banned, but if they reach or exceed certain levels in soil and water, federal, state, or tribal officials must be reported.
Forever chemicals are a byproduct of the manufacturing process, when factories that make products containing PFAS release wastewater into communities’ water supplies.
Other contaminants on the Superfund list include lead, asbestos, dioxin (a toxin found in herbicide production and paper bleaching), soil bioavailability and radiation.
The EPA confirmed Friday that it will focus its enforcement efforts on companies and individuals that significantly contributed to the release of permanent chemicals into the environment, such as federal agencies and companies that manufactured PFAS or used them in the manufacturing process.
PFAS are called forever chemicals because of their resistance to breaking down naturally in the environment and ending up in Americans’ drinking water.
“For decades, the chemical industry has contaminated our communities with these ‘forever chemicals,’ said Emily Scarr, director of the Stop Toxic PFAS campaign at the US PIRG Educational Fund.
“We need our state and national leaders to use every tool available to protect our families from PFAS exposure,” he continued.
“That means phasing out their use, stopping their dumping, and holding the chemical industry accountable for the damage they have caused to our health and the environment.”
PFAS are a common contaminant in many household items, from kitchen utensils to hamburger wrappers. It can remain in the environment and human tissue for years, even decades, before being eliminated.
Forever chemicals are found in many foods, including BBQ sauce, hot drinks, soft drinks, and soups. These chemicals can cause fertility problems and life-threatening diseases such as kidney and liver failure and cancer.
This move comes after the EPA set strict limits last week for the amount of PFAS that can be present in drinking water, limiting it to four parts per billion for PFOA and PFOS.
The Biden administration invested $1 billion in EPA actions that ‘will reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths, and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses,’ the EPA reported. saying.
The amount of chemicals ending up in places across the United States is growing at an alarming rate, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an agency made up of scientists, policy and data experts, and lawyers.
According to the EWG, PFAS have contaminated more than 5,000 sites in all 50 states and more than 1,200 of those sites have detectable levels of these permanent chemicals.
“For decades, the American people have been exposed to the family of incredibly toxic ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS without protection from their government,” said EWG President and Co-Founder Ken Cook.
‘Those chemicals now contaminate virtually all Americans from birth. “This is because, for generations, PFAS chemicals slipped out of all federal environmental laws like a fried egg from a Teflon frying pan,” he added.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents the chemical industry, told DailyMail.com that it strongly opposes the EPA’s action, calling it “seriously flawed” and believes it will “undermine the overall remediation efforts” of PFAS contamination.
The Superfund law “is an expensive, ineffective, and infeasible means of achieving remediation of these chemicals,” the group said, adding that it “is fraught with unintended consequences and will likely result in extensive and unnecessary delays to cleanups.”
Companies introduced PFAS in the 1940s, adding them to consumer products such as frying pans, water-repellent sports equipment, cosmetics and even food packaging, exposing millions of Americans to harmful and potentially deadly toxins.
“This announcement is a critical step in getting PFAS out of our waterways and making polluters pay,” Frank said in a statement, adding, “Now, we need to turn off the spigot on toxic PFAS everywhere.”
DailyMail.com has contacted the EPA for comment.