The Trump Administration’s EPA has rolled back several limits on toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in drinking water and delayed the implementation of the few that are left. Action Alert!
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THE TOPLINE
- The EPA is rolling back PFAS protections, scrapping limits on four “forever chemicals” and delaying enforcement of existing standards until 2031.
- PFAS are inherently toxic, highly persistent, and now pervasive in the bodies of the American population, with links to cancer, reproductive harm, and immune system dysfunction—yet the federal government continues to stall on action.
- Industry arguments about PFAS being “essential” ignore the broader public health harm and the urgent need for a class-wide ban.
In another concerning rollback of regulations designed to protect Americans from toxic PFAS “forever chemicals,” the Trump Administration’s EPA recently announced that it will be scrapping drinking water limits set for four chemicals and delaying until 2031 the implementation of drinking water limits for PFOA and PFOS. These actions send a clear message: the federal government is unconcerned about our exposure to these chemicals and the health consequences that can ensue. We must register grassroots opposition to these moves and seek a total ban on PFAS chemicals as a class.
EPA Rolls Back PFAS Protections
This is just the latest rollback. Earlier this year, the administration abruptly withdrew a long-awaited rule that would have set limits on PFAS discharges from chemical manufacturing plants—one of the most significant sources of water pollution from these toxic compounds.
We also reported a few months ago that the administration introduced a revised framework for PFAS whereby the EPA would assess the risks of chemicals only by their individual uses, rather than evaluating the full scope of harm posed by the chemical itself. This redefinition dramatically narrows the situations in which chemicals can be regulated.
The EPA’s policy on PFAS amounts to rolling the dice on our health. The US Geological Survey estimates that 45 percent of the nation’s tap water is already contaminated with one or more PFAS. And that’s just one route of exposure. Once released, PFAS seep into groundwater where they dissipate and accumulate, poisoning soil microbes, being taken up into plants that we eat; we contaminate our foods unwittingly when we cook using PFAS-containing non-stick pots and pans; we cover or wrap foods with PFAS-containing materials; they get into the air and are in the dust that we breathe in.
Once we are exposed to these now-ubiquitous hazardous chemicals, they accumulate in our bodies and appear likely to contribute to a rash of negative health effects. Numerous studies link them to cancer, immune dysfunction, and reproductive harm. It’s time to stop clinging to toxic forever chemicals out of convenience and start investing in safer alternatives—just as we did with lead and asbestos.
And consider this: setting enforceable drinking water standards on six PFAS was a start, but there are about 14,000 PFAS chemicals. It has taken decades to set standards on PFOS and PFOA, two chemicals that are no longer in production in the US. Particularly given this rollback, how long before any standards are implemented on the other 13,998?
The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is built on truth-telling—about how poor nutrition, toxic exposures (yes, including PFAS), sedentary lifestyles, and rampant overmedicalization drive chronic disease. Yet at the same time, a pro-industry EPA is actively dismantling the few federal safeguards we have against PFAS contamination. It’s a stark disconnect that undermines the very goals MAHA claims to advance.
The Industry Defense: “PFAS Are Necessary”
Some have argued that PFAS are too essential to ban, pointing to their use in medicine: PFAS are used in diabetes pumps, catheters, pacemakers, heart valves, vascular grafts, and in angioplasty and stent replacement procedures. Beyond that, PFAS are used to make smartphones waterproof and in semiconductor chip manufacture. How can chemicals so ubiquitous and critical to everyday consumer products be banned completely?
This view ignores the new developments in safer, non-fluorinated chemicals with similar oil/water partitioning characteristics as well as the serious, preventable harm associated with these chemicals. Limited, temporary exemptions for critical medical uses may be warranted, but they must come with a clear policy approach that includes a plan to phase out PFAS entirely. No use, however beneficial, justifies the unchecked release of toxic, persistent pollutants into our bodies or environment. While it’s the remit of the FDA, not the EPA, given the bioaccumulation and harmful health effects associated with PFAS exposure, removing them from medical devices such as pacemakers and stents seems like a prudent step regardless.
Industry and its allies claim that there aren’t any studies that definitively show PFAS cause any health issues—just animal research and epidemiological data. Presumably we should ignore this evidence until “gold standard,” randomized controlled trials establish a definitive connection between PFAS exposure and negative health effects before we do anything. Heard that one before?
This is a deeply problematic position. For starters, one of the many epidemiological studies apparently being dismissed by pro-industry mouthpieces is the EPA’s own research in Parkersburg, West Virginia (dramatized in the 2019 film Dark Waters) finding a link between high levels of exposure to PFAS (the residents lived near a DuPont chemical plant) and six diseases prevalent in the community. Ask the residents whose health was impacted if they think the evidence is insufficient!
There’s also a straightforward reason why randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking: they’re expensive, and typically funded by industry. Chemical companies have little incentive to rigorously investigate the safety of their own products. Instead, they often shape the science—designing studies to yield favorable outcomes rather than objective truth.
And when studies do reveal dangers, industry suppresses the findings. It has come to light in a recent exposé that these companies knew for decades about the dangers of these chemicals but kept it quiet. A 1980 DuPont memo, for example, told employees that PFAS chemicals were “about as toxic as table salt.” Yet as early as 1961, DuPont’s chief toxicologist found that very low doses of PFAS exposure enlarged rats’ livers, recommending that PFAS be handled with “extreme care.” The authors concluded: “The chemical industry used the tactics of the tobacco industry to delay public awareness of the toxicity of PFAS and, in turn, delayed regulations governing their use.”
Conclusion: Time to Ban PFAS
The EPA’s recent actions reflect a dangerous retreat from science and public health in favor of corporate interests. PFAS chemicals have been allowed to contaminate our water, food, and bodies for far too long—and now the government is actively dismantling what few protections existed. Enough is enough. We need a comprehensive class-wide ban on PFAS and a serious national investment in safer alternatives. Let’s not wait another 60 years for justice.
