Last October, the White House outlined new and ongoing federal efforts to combat nationwide per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution, especially agency actions to address the legacy of PFAS pollution in our water, air, food, and communities. We offer the Biden-Harris Administration seven recommendations to deal with PFAS in commerce using a whole-of-government approach, and finally start to turn off the PFAS tap. More:

• Analysis: 7 things the White House should do to limit PFAS pollution  –  EHN
• PFAS roadmap sets new direction for EPA  –  EWG

• PFAS Contamination Is an Equity Issue, and President Trump’s EPA Is Failing to Fix It  –  Union of Concerned Scientists

• Reconciling Terminology of the Universe of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances  –  OECD
• National PFAS Testing Strategy  –  US EPA
• TSCA Section 8(a)(7) Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances  –  US EPA

It’s one of the biggest industries in the world, consumes more than 10% of fossil fuels produced globally and emits an estimated 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, more than India’s annual emissions – yet the chemicals sector has largely slipped under the radar when it comes to climate. More:

• How the chemicals industry’s pollution slipped under the radar  –  The Guardian

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of chemicals and can be found in all sorts of products, in the environment and in our bodies. PFAS  are man-made substances created by replacing hydrogen atoms (the natural bonding partner for carbon) with fluorine atoms.  This gives PFAS water and oil repellent properties. Once released into the environment, these PFAS cannot be broken down into carbon dioxide or methane by bacteria, enzymes, or sunlight, earning them the name of  ‘forever chemicals’. More:

• What are PFAS  –  EEB

• Perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS)  –  ECHA
• Synthesis paper on per and polyfluorinated chemicals (Report)  –  OECD
• PFASs: Avoiding the streetlight effect (Report)  –  EEB

• Emerging chemical risks in Europe — ‘PFAS’  –  European Environment Agency
• Talking industry accountability- Will the polluter pay?  –  META

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency announced that safe levels of exposure to PFAS – the levels at which harms might not occur – should be thousands of times lower than limits it first proposed in 2016. More:

• EPA finds PFAS are more toxic than previously thought  –  EWG
• Study: More Than 200 Million Americans Could Have Toxic PFAS in Their Drinking Water  –  EWG

• For Decades, Polluters Knew PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous But Hid Risks From Public  –  EWG
• Two 'forever chemicals' more toxic than previously thought EPA drafts  –  The Hill
• EPA finds chemical contaminating NC river more toxic than previously assessed  –  The Hill
• EPA Advances Science to Protect the Public from PFOA and PFOS in Drinking Water –  US EPA

• Human Health Toxicity Assessments for GenX Chemicals  –  US EPA
• The new generation of ‘forever chemicals’ – toxicity, exposure, contamination and regulation  –  EWG

• Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet  –  US CDC

• ‘Forever Chemicals’ Must Be Regulated as a Class  –  US EPA

Industrial facilities across the country could be unwittingly burning the Pentagon’s legacy firefighting foam, according to an analysis of Pentagon records. The firefighting foam is made with the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. More:

• The Pentagon’s toxic ‘forever chemicals’ waste could be burning near your home  –  EWG

• Mapping PFAS Chemical Contamination at 206 U.S. Military Sites  –  EWG
• Interactive Map - 679 Military Sites With Known or Suspected Discharges of PFAS  –  EWG
• For Decades, The Department of Defense Knew Fire Fighting Foams With PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous  –  EWG
• Complaint for Declaratory and Injuntive Relief –  Earthjustice

• Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Incineration to Manage PFAS Waste Streams (Technical brief)  –  US EPA
• Study: Disposal of PFAS Waste Increases Contamination  –  EWG
• Bennington College team finds elevated levels of PFAS around NY plant  –  Bennington Banner
• The Reckless Rush to Burn AFFF –  Bennington College
• Disposal of products and materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A cyclical problem (Research abstract)

• Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)  –  US National Toxicology Program

• Wind can carry PFAS pollution miles away from manufacturing facilities  –  UPI

• The U.S. Military is Spending Billions to Replace Toxic Firefighting Foam with Toxic Firefighting Foam  –  The Intercept
• Short-chain and long-chain PFAS show similar toxicity, US National Toxicology Program says  –  C&EN

• ‘Forever chemicals’ no more? These technologies aim to destroy PFAS in water  –  C&EN

We are all surrounded by synthetic chemicals in our everyday lives - from pesticide residues in food to chemicals used in the manufacture of household products - but most of us are not aware that they also make their way into our bodies. Environmental journalist Anna Turns investigates her own 'chemical body burden' - the amount of persistent, synthetic pollutants that have accumulated inside her system. More:

• Costing the Earth - My Toxic Cocktail  –  BBC Sounds

In June 2020, Kentucky’s Department for Environmental Protection sent an inspector to investigate a Teflon recycling company in western Kentucky. Four months later, state officials found forever chemicals in a creek that captures the facility’s runoff on its way to meet the Ohio River. More:

• PFAS pollution could last millennia. Ky. officials told the polluter, but not residents  –  89.3 WFPL News Louisville

• Notice of Violation (document)  –  Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
• ‘Concerning’ Levels Of Forever Chemicals Polluting Henderson, Ky.  –  89.3 WFPL News Louisville
• Western Ky. city grapples with widespread pollution from Teflon recycler  –  89.3 WFPL News Louisville
• Agreed order (document)  –  Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection

• Superfund Sites Identified by EPA to have PFAS Contamination  –  U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

BENNINGTON — In October, the state completed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to connect hundreds of homes to the Bennington municipal water system. The homes needed a new source of potable water after their private wells were found to be contaminated with the chemical PFOA. More:

• Hundreds of Bennington-area residents connected to municipal water in $48.7 million response to PFOA contamination  –  VTDigger
• Teflon Town: Part 1- Toxic Legacy - A Special VTDigger Investigation  –  VTDigger
• Bennington area residents reach $34 million settlement in PFOA lawsuit  –  VTDigger

• Bennington College research finds PFOA spread into the Green Mountains  –  VTDigger
• Results of Regional PFOA Soil Study in Bennington  –  Bennington College

The scientific panel of Europe's food safety regulator called for a new, harder look at chemical safety standards. The new study, published last month in the European Food Safety Authority Journal, calls on regulators worldwide to consider "non-monotonic dose responses," or NMDRs – the non-intuitive notion that the dose does not always make the poison. More:

• New Science: European regulators push for better safety standards  –  EHN
• Opinion on the impact of non‐monotonic dose responses on EFSA′s human health risk assessments  –  EFSA Journal

If you live close to certain industrial facilities, you may have a higher estimated cancer risk. This may sound alarming. Here are answers to common questions, some crowdsourced tips and how to share your experience to help our investigation. More:

• Can Air Pollution Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know About the Risks.  –  ProPublica

• The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S.  –  ProPublica
• El mapa más detallado de contaminación atmosférica industrial que causa cáncer en los EE. UU.  –  ProPublica
• How We Created the Most Detailed Map Ever of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution  –  ProPublica
• Toxic 100 Air Polluters Detailed Company Reports  –  PERI

• Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Compliance and Enforcement  –  US EPA
• Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Search  –  US EPA
• 2017 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) Data  –  US EPA
• National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) Overview  –  US EPA
• Enforcement and Compliance History Online (Facility search)  –  US EPA

• Basic Information about the Integrated Risk Information Syste (IRIS)  –  US EPA
• IRIS Assessments (Chemicals)  –  US EPA
• Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) Model  –  US EPA

The European Commission adopted a proposal to protect human health and the environment from some of the most harmful chemicals in waste – Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The Commission is proposing to introduce stringent limits for the following substances, or groups of substances, in waste: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts and related compounds; dicofol; and pentachlorophenol, its salts and esters – found in treated wood and textiles. More:

• European Green Deal: Commission adopts new limits for some of the most harmful chemicals in waste  –  The European Sting

The Department of Defense may have failed to notify some of these farmers, as required by federal law, that toxic plumes of PFAS flowing from bases around the U.S. could be contaminating irrigation water, according to our review of DOD records. Studies show that irrigating crops and watering livestock with PFAS-contaminated water may contaminate the plants and animals. More:

• Forever chemicals from military bases may be lurking in agricultural water supplies  –  EWG

• Mapping the PFAS contamination crisis: New data show 2,854 sites in 50 states and two territories  –  EWG Interactive Map
• Suspected industrial discharges of PFAS  –  EWG Interactive Map
• 679 Military Sites With Known or Suspected Discharges of PFAS  –  EWG Interactive Map

• ‘Forever Chemicals’ Coming to Your Table, if Not Already There  –  Bloomberg Law
• Uptake of perfluoroalkyl substances and halogenated flame retardants by crop plants grown in biosolids-amended soils (Research article)
• Perfluoroalkyl Acid Distribution in Various Plant Compartments of Edible Crops Grown in Biosolids-Amended soils (Research abstract)
• Perfluoroalkyl Acid Uptake in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) Irrigated with Reclaimed Water (Research abstract)
• Field study on the uptake and translocation of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in biosolids-amended soils (Research abstract)

Last year, the global chemical giant Bayer agreed to pay $650 million to settle the claims of 2,500 cities, counties, and ports for cleanup of contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a notorious group of chlorinated chemicals that have long been linked to cancer and reproductive and immune system harms. More:

• Op-ed: The ghosts in our water  –  EHN

• Food Webs, Bioaccumulation, and Visualizing Data  –  USGS
• Public Health Implications of Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) (Report)  –  US Public Health Service
• Blood testing for PFAS  –  ATSDR

• PFAS Master List of PFAS Substances  –  US EPA
• An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (Research article)
• It’s Time To Designate PFAS a “Hazardous Substance”  –  EWG

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it is preparing a rule that would list some so-called "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances that must be eliminated from industrial waste before it is discarded. The chemicals are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and GenX. More:

• EPA proposes regulating 'forever chemicals' under hazardous waste law  –  Reuters

Responding to a petition filed by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, EPA announced it will take two steps to address the risks posed by disposal of PFAS, the toxic chemicals contaminating the water supplies of thousands of communities around the U.S. More:

• EPA moves closer to proper disposal of ‘forever chemicals’ wastes  –  EWG
• PFAS roadmap sets new direction for EPA  –  EWG

• Potential health effects of PFAS chemicals  –  US ATSDR
• PFAS and Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity: An EWG Fact Sheet  –  EWG
• PFAS Chemicals Harm the Immune System, Decrease Response to Vaccines, New EWG Review Finds  –  EWG

• Feeding the Waste Cycle: How PFAS ‘Disposal’ Perpetuates Contamination  –  EWG
• Study: Disposal of PFAS Waste Increases Contamination  –  EWG
• Disposal of products and materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A cyclical problem (Research abstract)

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency today announced that GenX, one of many “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, is hazardous at much lower exposures than the two notorious PFAS known as PFOA and PFOS. More:

• ‘Forever chemical’ GenX more toxic than previously acknowledged, says EPA  –  EWG
• The ‘Forever Chemicals’ in 99% of Americans  –  EWG

• Human Health Toxicity Assessments for GenX Chemicals  –  US EPA
• EWG Comments on GenX & PFBS for EPA  –  EWG
• NC Dept. of Environmental Quality and NC Dept. of Health and Human Services Review of the North Carolina Drinking Water Provisional Health Goal for GenX (Report)  –  North Caroline Dept. of Environmental Quality and NC Dept. of Health and Human Services

Today, toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are everywhere we’ve thought to look for them. As engineered, these synthetic chemicals glide through air and water with ease, evade all natural processes of decay, and inflict debilitating injuries even at exceedingly low levels of exposure. More:

• Lethal ‘forever chemicals’ taint our food, water and even blood  –  The Guardian
• Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia  –  The Huffington Post

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Perfluorochemical (PFC) Contamination Near Decatur (Archive document)  –  US EPA
• Cancer-linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water  –  Bloomberg
• PFAS Background in Vermont Shallow Soils (Study)  –  University of Vermont
• The US military is poisoning communities across the US with toxic chemicals  –  The Guardian

• Revealed: more than 120,000 US sites feared to handle harmful PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals  –  The Guardian
• National PFAS Testing Strategy: Identification of Candidate Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) for Testing  –  US EPA
• Working Towards a Global Emission Inventory of PFASS: Focus on PFCAS - Status Quo and the Way Forward(Report)  –  UNEP/OECD 

• Fact Sheet: 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program  –  US EPA
• PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitments to Action 2021-2024  –  US EPA
• Scientific Basis for Managing PFAS as a Chemical Class (Scientific commentary)

• EPA Announces Proposed Decision to Regulate PFOA and PFOS in Drinking Water  –  US EPA
• EPA Action Plan on PFAS Pollution Is Too Little, Too Late  –  The Intercept

• For Decades, Polluters Knew PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous But Hid Risks From Public  –  EWG
• For Decades, The Department of Defense Knew Fire Fighting Foams With PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous But Continued Their Use  –  EWG
• 3M Knew About the Dangers of PFOA and PFOS Decades Ago  –  The Intercept
• The Teflon Toxin  –  The Intercept
• Lawmakers propose PFAS Accountability Act in Congress; bill would create federal cause of action for victims, proponents say  –  Record Eagle

• The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare  –  The New York Times
• The Teflon Toxin Goes to Court  –  The Intercept
• David Bond & Jorja Rose: Saint-Gobain’s claims don’t hold water  –  VTDigger
• Business group, DNR agree not to release PFAS tests for now  –  AP News

Ever wonder how your mascara or lipstick stays on all day? It might be that it contains PFAS, a class of chemicals used to make products water- and oil-resistant that are also found on Teflon nonstick pans and Gore-Tex waterproof clothing. Unfortunately, PFAS are linked to cancer and other serious health problems. More:

• Makeup is full of toxic ‘forever chemicals.’ Why aren’t they banned?  –  Fast Company
• Emerging chemical risks in Europe — ‘PFAS’  –  European Environment Agency
• Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics (Research article)

• For Decades, Polluters Knew PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous But Hid Risks From Public  –  EWG
• What are the health effects of PFAS?  –  US ATSDR
• PFAS and cancer, a scoping review of the epidemiologic evidence (Research abstract)

• 3M knew your non-stick pan was poisoning you in the '70s  –  Fast Company
• Report: Thinx menstrual underwear has toxic chemicals in the crotch  –  Fast Company
• The Race to Design a Rain Jacket That Won't Kill the Planet  –  WIRED

• L’Oréal eliminates PFAS from their cosmetic products  –  PFAS Free
• IKEA Restricted Substance List  –  IKEA

• Efforts underway in Europe to ban PFAS compounds  –  Chemistry World
• Gillibrand, Pappas, Delgado Reintroduce Legislation To Finally Stop Polluters From Contaminating Waterways With Toxic Levels Of Pfas  –  US Senate
• Blumenthal & Shaheen Introduce Legislation to Reduce PFAS Exposure Among Servicemembers & Military Families  –  US Senate
• Collins, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Ban PFAS Chemicals in Cosmetics  –  US Senate

DuPont factories pumped dangerous substances into the environment. The company and its offspring have gone to great lengths to dodge responsibility. Since 2018, potentially unsafe levels of PFAS have been found in the groundwater of more than 4,000 residential parcels near the Chemours factory in Fayetteville, N.C., according to the state's environmental regulator. High concentrations of GenX, a type of PFAS, were found in 232 of those parcels. More:

• How Chemical Companies Avoid Paying for Pollution  –  The New York Times

Because of their useful surfactant properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been massively produced for non-stick coatings, water-repellant fabrics and firefighting foams. However, scientists have detected these highly stable "forever chemicals" throughout the environment, prompting toxicity concerns. Now, researchers have characterized PFAS in contemporary and historical organic waste products applied to agricultural fields in France. More:

• Urban wastes used as fertilizers contain higher PFAS than livestock manure  –  PHYS.org
• Fecal excretion of PFAS by pets  –  PHYS.org
• Target and Nontarget Screening of PFAS in Biosolids, Composts, and Other Organic Waste Products for Land Application in France (Research abstract)