EPA admits Pfoa and Pfos were not phased out of US production

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quietly updated its public records to admit that Pfoa and Pfos, two of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, continue to be manufactured in the United States. In late September, the EPA reversed a long-standing claim on its website that stated the manufacture and import of Pfoa had been phased out, replacing it with an acknowledgment that quantities of the chemical may be produced, imported, and used by companies.

The update follows a formal complaint by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) under the Information Quality Act, which alleged the agency was allowing Pfoa production while claiming the chemical was no longer being made. The admission is particularly significant because the EPA previously reached a 2015 agreement with eight producers to "phase out" the chemicals after an epidemiological panel linked them to cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. Kyla Bennett, PEER’s science policy director, stated that the EPA was giving a "false impression" by asserting the chemicals were not being produced, a stance she noted the agency has now admitted was "demonstrably false."

Despite this correction, the EPA is currently allowing Houston-based Inhance to produce containers that have been found to leach Pfoa at high levels. Inhance, which manufactures up to 200 million plastic containers annually, denied that the chemical leaches out in measurable levels, asserting in a statement that any Pfoa in its products are merely an "impurity." This follows a six-year legal battle where the EPA repeatedly ordered Inhance to cease production—a directive the company defied—and subsequent appeals court rulings that overturned the agency's bans.

While the IARC classifies Pfoa as "carcinogenic to humans," the EPA found that virtually no level of exposure in drinking water is safe. The agency's shift from claiming a complete phase-out to admitting ongoing production drew criticism from Bennett, who noted the EPA's move is a "rare touch of candor" but fails to address the "free flow of toxic PFAS" in the environment. She urged the agency to take effective enforcement action now that it has admitted these legacy PFAS are still being manufactured in the US.