‘Unreasonable Risk’ – EPA Grants Petition to Regulate PFAS Found in Plastic Containers
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would start the process to regulate toxic PFAS (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) formed during the fluorination of plastic containers. This decision follows a petition filed by a coalition of environmental and health advocates represented by Earthjustice, the Center for Environmental Health, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, urging the EPA to address the severe risks these chemicals pose to consumers, workers, and the environment.
The coalition filed a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), seeking regulation of three PFAS — PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA — created during the fluorination process used to enhance the barrier properties of plastic containers. The petition highlighted the dangers of PFAS leaching from fluorinated plastic containers into household products.
The coalition filed a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), seeking regulation of three PFAS — PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA — created during the fluorination process used to enhance the barrier properties of plastic containers. The petition highlighted the dangers of PFAS leaching from fluorinated plastic containers into household products.
Bob Sussman, one of the petition submitters and counsel for CEH and PEER said: “EPA’s decision to grant the section 21 petition filed by PEER, CEH and other groups confirms yet again that PFOA and the other long-chain PFAS formed during fluorination of plastic containers pose an urgent health threat to hundreds of thousands of consumers, workers and community residents who use or come in contact with these containers.”
EPA’s recent PFAS drinking water standards confirm that there is no safe level of exposure to PFOA, which has repeatedly been identified in fluorinated containers and their contents.
“While granting the petition was a necessary first step, EPA says only that it will initiate an ‘appropriate proceeding’ but provides no details on the nature of this proceeding or the Agency’s timeline,” said Sussman. “PEER and CEH are disappointed that EPA does not commit to a specific plan of action and schedule for issuing a section 6 rule imposing the same prohibitions it had already put in place under section 5… the Agency now has all the information needed for section 6 rulemaking.”