The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it is scrapping Biden-era drinking water limits on four PFAS compounds and delaying implementation for two more, replacing them with a plan to invest in destruction technology. However, advocates have labelled the approach 'nonsensical', arguing that technology to fully destroy PFAS on a large scale does not yet exist.
PFAS, or 'forever chemicals', are a class of at least 16,000 compounds used in water-, stain- and grease-resistant products. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and other serious health problems. The chemicals persist for thousands of years in the environment and have been found in rainwater, drinking water, polar bears' blood and food.
Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist now with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), compared the plan to the fossil fuel industry's use of carbon capture technology, saying it offers the appearance of action while allowing industry to continue polluting. 'No one has said they can destroy PFAS on a large scale,' she said. 'To say we're going to destroy it so we don't need to regulate it is bullshit.'
Current destruction methods, such as incineration and thermal oxidation, often fail to fully break down PFAS, instead creating smaller byproducts that may be equally dangerous. A 2023 Guardian investigation found that a thermal oxidiser at a Chemours PFAS plant, claimed to destroy 99.999% of chemicals, was releasing undetected PFAS compounds into the air.
Advocates argue the solution is to reduce PFAS production, not rely on unproven destruction technology. 'The planet is filling up with these chemicals like a bathtub,' they warn, and the priority should be to 'turn off the tap'.
