The House Just Voted To Regulate PFAS. Here's What You Need To Know

Source: PBS News

A class of industrial chemicals linked to a range of health effects, including reproductive and developmental issues, has become a hot-button issue on Capitol Hill, on the presidential campaign trail and in state legislatures across the country.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that would set a deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a national drinking water standard for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, these chemicals are used in a range of products, including stain- and water-resistant fabrics, fire-fighting foams, non-stick cookware and food packaging. That’s because PFAS are resistant to elements like fire, water and oil.

But that resistance is also what allows PFAS to stick around in the body, or bioaccumulate, and persist in nature. Several of these chemicals have been found in drinking water across the country. The EPA said in February 2019 that it would propose a national drinking water standard for two of the oldest and most well-studied chemicals in the PFAS family — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).


Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-house-just-voted-to-regulate-pfas-heres-what-you-need-to-know

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- Barrels of dirt from groundwater contaminated with PFAS.

- What are PFAS? Nearly 5,000 different substances make up the PFAS family. Human studies have linked PFOA exposure to decreased vaccination response, thyroid disorders and kidney and testicular cancer. Exposure to certain PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS, has been shown to lower a person’s chance of getting pregnant, increase cholesterol, negatively impact the immune system and affect children’s growth, learning and behavior.

A 2018 report from the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found that more than 100 million Americans may have PFAS in their drinking water. But ingestion isn’t the only way that people can be introduced to the chemicals. Taking a hot shower using PFAS-contaminated water, for example, would cause a person to risk both breathing in the compounds and absorbing them through the skin.

PFOA and PFOS have a half life of between three to five years in humans. That’s how long it takes the body to eliminate 50 percent of those chemicals once they’ve built up in the blood. Those two chemicals are no longer manufactured in the United States, but consumers may still be exposed to them through imported products. The legislation would also prohibit the manufacture or sale of any chemical in the PFAS family that the agency has found to pose “an unreasonable risk of injury” to human health or the environment.

“Every American deserves access to clean drinking water,” Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., a co-sponsor of the House bill, told reporters during a phone call Thursday. “The PFAS Action Act will protect families from PFAS in their drinking water, in their lakes, rivers and streams, and in the air by requiring PFAS to be listed under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.”

- EWG, Environmental Working Group, PFAS
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/01/ewg-news-roundup-110-trump-threatens-derail-pfas-action-california-fails

- Michigan News, PFAS,
https://www.woodtv.com/news/washington-dc/house-oks-bill-labeling-pfas-a-hazardous-chemical/

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed sweeping reforms that supporters say will help remove PFAS contaminants from drinking water. Two dozen Republicans joined 222 Democrats in approving the bill, which would designate PFAS a hazardous chemical under the Superfund Act. That means manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Defense — two of the largest creators of the man-made class of chemical — could be held responsible for a speedy cleanup.

“PFAS is an urgent health and environmental threat, period, and no one can deny that,” a passionate Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said on the House floor Friday as she moved to end the debate over the bill. “The longer we wait, the worse the contamination becomes. The time is now to act.” PFAS contamination has been found at nearly 300 sites nationwide, particularly near military bases that use a firefighting foam containing the chemicals...