EPA quietly backtracks on claims US has phased out toxic Pfas compounds
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>Agency changes wording on website as Texas-based firm continues manufacture of plastic container barriers</p><p>The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly backtracked on a claim that the US has phased out two of the most dangerous Pfas compounds – Pfoa and Pfos.</p><p>The EPA has found that <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/06/21/2022-13158/lifetime-drinking-water-health-advisories-for-four-perfluoroalkyl-substances?utm_source=chatgpt.com">virtually no level of exposure</a> to either in drinking water is safe, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer <a href="https://www.iarc.who.int/news-events/iarc-monographs-volume-135-perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa-and-perfluorooctanesulfonic-acid-pfos/">classifies Pfoa </a>as “carcinogenic to humans” and Pfos as “possibly carcinogenic”. Still, the EPA is allowing Houston-based Inhance to produce containers from which Pfoa <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/estlcu/article-abstract/10/4/350/345648/Directly-Fluorinated-Containers-as-a-Source-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext">has been found</a> to leach at high levels into the containers’ contents. The company makes up to 200m barriers annually for plastic containers used across the US economy.</p><p>This article was amended on 18 October 2026 to correct Patricia van Ee’s title, and the story previously stated that Inhance manufactures plastic containers. They make the containers’ barriers.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/18/epa-pfas-compounds-toxins">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
Agency changes wording on website as Texas-based firm continues manufacture of plastic container barriersThe Environmental Protection Agency has quietly backtracked on a claim that the US has phased out two of the most dangerous Pfas compounds – Pfoa and Pfos.The EPA has found that virtually no level of exposure to either in drinking water is safe, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies Pfoa as “carcinogenic to humans” and Pfos as “possibly carcinogenic”. Still, the EPA is allowing Houston-based Inhance to produce containers from which Pfoa has been found to leach at high levels into the containers’ contents. The company makes up to 200m barriers annually for plastic containers used across the US economy.This article was amended on 18 October 2026 to correct Patricia van Ee’s title, and the story previously stated that Inhance manufactures plastic containers. They make the containers’ barriers. Continue reading...
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