July 15, 2026 | by Natural Customers Affiliation
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a category of 1000’s of synthetic chemical substances utilized in nonstick cookware, waterproof cloth, stain-resistant carpets, meals packaging, cosmetics, and firefighting foam. They don’t break down within the setting or within the human physique. They accumulate. PFAS are actually within the blood of 98% of Individuals and contaminating 45% of U.S. faucet water. They trigger most cancers, kidney illness, delivery defects, and liver injury. 30,000 factories have been dumping PFAS waste straight into our water for many years, and corporations like 3M and DuPont knew it and stored doing it anyway.
The Battle Again Has Began
Individuals are pushing again, and it’s working. Minnesota handed Amara’s Regulation in 2023, changing into the second state within the nation to ban PFAS, named after Amara Strande, who died at 20 from liver most cancers attributable to 3M dumping PFAS in her St. Paul suburb because the Fifties. Maine was the primary state to behave in 2022. California is now weighing laws to watch and report using PFAS pesticides statewide. In 2024, sustained public strain lastly pushed the Biden EPA to set the first-ever most contaminant limits for PFAS in consuming water.
The EPA Is Transferring within the Unsuitable Path
The EPA is rescinding protections for 4 of these chemical substances and delaying enforcement of the remaining limits till 2031. Greater than 73 million individuals are served by water techniques which have detected PFAS ranges above the bounds now being rolled again. The EPA’s personal toxicity assessments discovered that publicity to even extraordinarily small doses of the chemical substances being rescinded might pose severe well being dangers. And on the similar time, the EPA has been quietly approving new PFAS-based pesticides with no public announcement. In beneath two years, the Trump administration has licensed 5 PFAS pesticides, together with three permitted simply this month. One among them carries the EPA’s personal inside designation of “suggestive proof of carcinogenic potential.”
PFAS Is Now on Your Meals Too
Trifludimoxazin, one of many three pesticides permitted this month, is cleared to be used on wheat, oats, and fruit. The EPA revealed the approval within the Federal Register and mentioned nothing. There was no warning to farmworkers, no notification to the general public. These approvals deliver the full of PFAS pesticides greenlit in beneath two years to 5, at roughly 5 instances the tempo of the earlier administration.
What You Can Do Proper Now
Begin by checking EWG’s Faucet Water Database to search out out whether or not PFAS has been detected in your water system. Reverse osmosis filters are the best approach to take away PFAS from faucet water, and activated carbon filters are a lower-cost possibility. When searching for a filter, search for certification to NSF/ANSI 53 for carbon filters or NSF/ANSI 58 for reverse osmosis techniques. Switching to bottled water just isn’t the reply. Bottled water is regulated by the FDA, which has no PFAS requirements in any respect.
The remark interval on the EPA’s intent to dam its personal consuming water testing for PFAS closes July 20, 2026. TAKE ACTION: Inform the EPA to cease blocking PFAS testing and restore consuming water protections!
Examine your water: EWG Faucet Water Database
EWG’s information to PFAS water filters
EPA quietly approves three new PFAS pesticides to be used on meals crops – EWG
3M and DuPont suppressed proof of PFAS risks for many years – CBS Information
Trump EPA rolls again landmark PFAS consuming water protections – ProPublica
Over 73 million Individuals served by water techniques with PFAS above rescinded limits- NRDC
