The Environmental Safety Company has a remark interval open on its intent to cease monitoring ingesting water for PFAS. Take motion by July 20. Inform the EPA what you suppose!
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called “eternally chemical compounds,” are a category of extremely poisonous man-made fluorinated chemical compounds utilized in quite a lot of merchandise, together with pesticides, waterproof cloth, waterproof sunscreen, dental floss, stain-resistant carpets, nonstick cookware, flame retardant furnishings, take-out containers, cosmetics and firefighting foam.
PFAS lasts eternally, accumulating within the surroundings, and it kills. There’s scientific proof that it causes most cancers, kidney illness, start defects, and liver harm, and batters the immune system.
The explanation PFAS has been detected within the blood of 98% of People and is contaminating 45% of U.S. faucet water, is as a result of firms like 3M and DuPont have all the time had a free go to dump their waste proper into streams, rivers, and sewage methods. There are an estimated 12,000 PFAS formulations and 30,000 factories polluting our ingesting water with this “satan’s piss.”
The EPA ought to cease the air pollution at its supply by banning all fire-retardant, non-stick, water resistant, herbicidal, and insecticidal PFAS chemical compounds and get them out of our water, out of client merchandise, out of the army, out of firefighting, and out of meals and farming!
The EPA hasn’t gotten that far but, however in 2024 it decided that long-term publicity to PFAS, in ranges generally present in ingesting water, was linked to kidney most cancers, immune system suppression, developmental delays in infants and kids, and different critical well being points.
In response to its alarming discovering, the EPA set its first most contaminant limits for PFAS in ingesting water at 4 components per trillion for PFOA and PFOS and 10 components per trillion for GenX, PFNA, PFHxS, and PFBS.
Now, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Safety Company is rescinding protections for GenX, PFNA, PFHxS, and PFBS and delaying enforcement of PFOA and PFOS limits till 2031. It is a determination to ignore the EPA’s earlier findings that the quantity of those chemical compounds in our ingesting water right now is inflicting critical well being issues. Let’s begin with the 4 PFAS chemical compounds that Trump’s EPA is totally deregulating.
PFBS
The Biden EPA’s toxicity report for PFBS, a compound that’s poisonous at low ranges, discovered the chemical is linked to kidney illness, reproductive issues, and thyroid harm. PFBS is within the ingesting water of an estimated 860,000 People.
One thing fishy occurred with the EPA’s consideration of PFBS throughout Trump’s first time period. In accordance with the Biden EPA’s Workplace of the Inspector Basic, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and different political appointees engaged in “unprecedented” meddling to downplay PFBS’s toxicity. The incoming Biden administration discovered the evaluation was “compromised by political interference in addition to infringement of authorship” so it reworked and republished it.
In accordance with the Guardian, which interviewed EPA scientists in regards to the incident, three staff who willingly labored with the Trump appointees to weaken the PFBS evaluation had been by no means reprimanded or fired: Anna Lowit, Todd Stedeford and Tala Henry.
“Folks know what occurred, they usually know there have been no penalties, so there’s no deterrent,” an EPA worker instructed the Guardian. “It’s solely going to make individuals extra brazen about doing this sort of factor sooner or later.”
Henry and Stedeford had an extended historical past of altering scientific paperwork at trade’s behest to make chemical compounds seem much less poisonous and had been accused by whistleblowers earlier than. In response to the inspector normal investigation, Henry retired and Stedeford left the EPA to work for a regulation agency that represents chemical producers.
Anna Lowit did certainly turn into extra brazen. In 2026, as a senior science adviser for the Trump EPA’s Workplace of Air pollution Prevention and Toxics, she was caught on a leaked coaching video telling EPA scientists that the way in which to do a threat analysis of a chemical was to check it “till the reply is affirmative,” and “when it passes, cease.”
PFNA
One thing much like the PFBS scandal occurred with PFNA. Trump’s EPA has refused to publish the evaluation finalized by scientists in 2025, however ProPublica was leaked a replica and reported that the EPA “discovered that PFNA interferes with human improvement by inflicting decrease start weights and, primarily based on animal proof, seemingly causes harm to the liver and to male reproductive methods, together with reductions in testosterone ranges, sperm manufacturing and the scale of reproductive organs.” Moreover, the EPA concluded “PFNA ‘could trigger’ immune issues, thyroid results, hurt to the creating mind and a cluster of different issues, together with Kind 2 diabetes.” Why hasn’t Trump’s EPA made these findings public? As Darya Minovi, a senior analyst on the Union of Involved Scientists, instructed ProPublica, “If you happen to’re attempting to roll again ingesting water requirements, you in all probability don’t wish to launch data that makes the case for why these requirements are vital.”
GenX
For GenX, the EPA’s evaluation of the science discovered “liver toxicity (elevated relative liver weight, hepatocellular hypertrophy, and single cell necrosis), kidney toxicity (elevated relative kidney weight), immune results (antibody suppression), developmental results (elevated early deliveries and delays in genital improvement), and most cancers (liver and pancreatic tumors) at doses starting from 0.5 mg/kg-day to 1000 mg/kg-day.”
PFHxS
The EPA’s hazard evaluation for PFHxS cites thyroid hormone disruption and developmental neurotoxicity as main issues. PFHxS stays within the human physique for as much as 8.5 years. In animal research, PFHxS interferes with estrogen receptors, resulting in delayed puberty. PFHxS-exposed mice exhibited lowered reminiscence and studying talents, and kids with greater PFHxS serum ranges have measurable consideration and government operate issues.
PFOA and PFOS
The EPA discovered PFOA and PFOS are Prone to Be Carcinogenic to People. For PFOA, the EPA discovered epidemiological proof of kidney, testicular, and breast most cancers in people. Liver, testicular, pancreatic, and kidney tumorigenesis can also be related to PFOA publicity in human and animal fashions. For PFOS, the EPA discovered epidemiological proof of bladder, prostate, liver, kidney, and breast cancers in people. PFOS-exposed rats had liver cell tumors, pancreatic cell tumors, thyroid cell tumors, and multi-site tumorigenesis (liver and pancreas).
In accordance with the EPA, publicity can also be prone to trigger liver, immunological, cardiovascular, and developmental results in people. PFOA and PFOS:
- Hurt the liver by inflicting liver necrosis, irritation, and harm.
- Injury the immune system. When uncovered to PFOA and PFOS, kids vaccinated in opposition to tetanus, diphtheria, and rubella confirmed a decreased antibody response. Immunotoxicity has been noticed in rodents who skilled modifications to their spleen and thymus when uncovered to PFOA and PFOS. The spleen and thymus are the immune system’s most significant organs. The spleen produces lymphocytes and antibodies, whereas the thymus makes T lymphocytes (T cells), that are important for adaptive immunity.
- Hurt coronary heart well being by rising levels of cholesterol.
- Interrupt wholesome improvement. Publicity to PFOA and PFOS is related to decreased start weight in human infants. In animals, decreased offspring survival, decreased fetal and pup weight, delayed time to eye opening, and associated pre- and post-natal results have been noticed.
PFAS chemical compounds are making us sick and shortening our lives. We will’t let the EPA halt efforts to get PFAS out of our water.
Amara Strande died at age 20 of liver most cancers as a result of Scotchguard producer 3M had been dumping its PFAS waste in her St. Paul suburb for the reason that Nineteen Fifties.
In 2023, the 12 months Amara handed away, Minnesota handed a PFAS ban she tirelessly lobbied for till her premature loss of life. It got here to be often called Amara’s Legislation.
In accordance with Safer States, 193 state insurance policies on PFAS have been adopted in 30 states. Eleven states (ME, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, WA, and WI) have enforceable limits on PFAS in ingesting water. 4 states (ME, MN, NM, and WA) ban PFAS in a variety of merchandise.
For instance, New Mexico handed a regulation in 2025 to part out deliberately added PFAS in client merchandise from 2027 to 2032. Starting in 2027, New Mexico will ban the sale of cookware, meals packaging, dental floss, kids’s merchandise, and firefighting foam containing deliberately added PFAS. In 2028, the regulation will ban the sale of carpets and rugs, cleansing merchandise, cosmetics, cloth remedies, female hygiene merchandise, textiles, textile furnishings, ski wax, and upholstered furnishings containing deliberately added PFAS. By 2032, all merchandise containing deliberately added PFAS might be banned on the market until the state’s Environmental Enchancment Board adopts a rule specifying that using PFAS in a product is unavoidable.
A number of extra states ban PFAS in:
- Attire: Six states together with CA, CO, CT, ME, NY and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in attire.
- Carpets/Rugs: Ten states together with CA, CO, CT, ME, MD, MN, NY, RI, VT, and WA have adopted restrictions on PFAS in carpets, rugs, and/or aftermarket remedies.
- Cleansing Merchandise: 4 states together with CO, CT, ME, and MN have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in cleansing merchandise.
- Cookware: Six states together with CO, CT, ME, MN, RI and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in cookware.
- Dental Floss: 4 states together with CO, CT, ME, and MN have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in dental floss.
- Firefighting Foam: Fifteen states together with AK, CA, CO, CT, HI, IL, ME, MD, MN, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT, and WA have banned the sale of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
- Meals Packaging: Twelve states together with CA, CO, CT, HI, ME, MD, MN, NY, OR, RI, VT, and WA have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in meals packaging.
- Juvenile Merchandise: Eight states together with CA, CO, CT, ME, MN, OR, RI, and VT have adopted restrictions on PFAS in juvenile merchandise.
- Menstrual Merchandise: Seven states together with CA, CO, CT, ME, MN, RI, and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in menstrual merchandise.
- Private Care Merchandise: Ten states together with CA, CO, CT, ME, MD, MN, OR, RI, VT, and WA adopted restrictions on PFAS in cosmetics.
Maine’s 2022 PFAS regulation included a ban on using sewage sludge as fertilizer (the trade identify for it’s “biosolids”).
Along with Maine, a number of different states, together with Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia, are testing sewage sludge for PFAS and proscribing land disposal when ranges are above limits. Sadly, these ranges are largely set too excessive. The EPA’s 2025 draft Sewage Sludge Threat Evaluation discovered extreme dangers posed by PFAS ranges as little as 1–5 components per billion, together with immune dysfunction, thyroid illness, and most cancers.
TAKE ACTION: Inform Your State Legislators to Ban Poisonous PFAS!
The laws that has been handed to date leaves out a major supply of PFAS: pesticides.
Some sectors are transitioning away from PFAS, however the pesticide trade is doubling down. The Environmental Safety Company lately permitted six new pesticides that qualify as PFAS: Corteva-DowDuPont’s fluazaindolizine below President Biden, and Syngenta-ChemChina’s cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram, Bayer-Monsanto’s diflufenican, BASF’s trifludimoxazin, and Sumitomo-Valent’s epyrifenacil below President Trump.
TAKE ACTION: Inform Your State Legislators to Ban PFAS Pesticides!
In 2024, in the course of the Biden Administration, the Environmental Safety Company began to control PFAS, placing six PFAS formulations on its checklist of gear regulated in ingesting water and two below its Superfund authority, to shift the prices of cleanup from taxpayers to polluters.
To know why is that this unacceptable, watch the movie Darkish Waters (2019) that dramatizes the surprising and true story of heroic lawyer Rob Bilott who risked his profession and household to uncover a secret hidden by one of many world’s largest companies and to convey justice to a neighborhood dangerously uncovered for many years to lethal chemical compounds.
Bilott was first contacted by two West Virginia farmers who confirmed him how DuPont’s poisonous waste was getting dumped on their fields within the type of sewage sludge “fertilizer” and was killing their cattle. In an try to assist the farmers, Bilott filed a grievance that kicked off an epic 15-year combat—one which examined his popularity, his well being and his livelihood.
There’s an important scene within the film, the place Bilott’s spouse Sarah (Anne Hathaway) calls for to know what’s going on and Rob (Mark Ruffalo) tells her how DuPont is knowingly poisoning the neighborhood.
The Satan We Know is a documentary model of the identical story specializing in the plaintiffs within the historic class motion lawsuit in opposition to the DuPont chemical plant that manufactures Teflon. They charged the chemical firm with poisoning the ingesting water provide of greater than 70,000 individuals dwelling close to the manufacturing unit. Within the movie, they break their silence in regards to the struggling they’ve endured by the hands of the chemical big of their yard. Their lawsuit uncovered surprising inside paperwork revealing that DuPont knew for many years that C8 had poisonous well being results, however continued to go away its employees and all the neighborhood uncovered.
There are a number of different glorious movies to look at about PFAS.
Semper Fi All the time Devoted tells the tragic and galvanizing true story of Marine Corps Grasp Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, a faithful Marine for practically twenty-five years. When Jerry’s nine-year previous daughter Janey died of a uncommon kind of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what occurred. His seek for solutions led to the surprising discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of many largest water contamination incidents in U.S. historical past. Navy bases like Camp Lejeune nonetheless have the highest concentrations of PFAS within the nation primarily from the close to every day use of firefighting foam.
Burned is the true story of how the partner of a firefighter revealed their important publicity to eternally chemical compounds.
The heroic individuals whose tales are instructed in these movies deserve our help. Please don’t depart this web page with out taking motion.
