State environmental agencies in North Carolina, New Mexico and New Jersey filed petitions demanding the Environmental Protection Agency categorize four types of PFAS compounds as hazardous air pollutants and regulate “forever chemicals” under the Clear Air Act. The air pollution is believed to be the cause of PFAS contamination in soil, water, and food supplies.
Due to “a lack of federal rules,” individual states are finding it difficult to “rein in air pollution,” which is a “tremendous concern in our states and across the U.S.”, the petition said.
“Adding these forever chemicals to the list of regulated pollutants addresses a gap in our regulatory authority and makes it possible to tackle a critical part of the PFAS life cycle: Air emissions,” Elizabeth Biser, the secretary of the North Carolina department of environmental quality, said.
In Fayetteville, North Carolina, an investigation found that Chemours PFAS production plant was “emitting much higher levels of the chemicals into the air than regulators and the company claimed,” The Guardian reported. The recently filed petition in North Carolina revealed a “causal link between significant air emissions of PFAS from the [Chemours plant]” and the contamination of Chemours-specific PFAS in private drinking water wells within a 27-sq-mile area around the plant.
“At this point, the EPA should designate the entire class of PFAS as hazardous air pollutants,” Emily Donovan, co-founder of the non-profit, Clean Cape Fear, a group of residents that advocate for stronger regulations around the Chemours plant, said.
While PFAS are a class of about 15,000 compounds mostly used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down naturally in the environment, the petitions call on the EPA to regulate PFOA, PFOS, PFNA and GenX, the most common PFAS compounds used in products. The air pollution caused by PFAS has been linked to harmful environment and human health concerns such as, cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, and high cholesterol.
“It should not be hard to justify such a listing given the known adverse effects of PFOA, PFOS, GenX and other PFAS with extensive toxicity data,” Bob Sussman, an attorney who has litigated against Chemours, said.
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