Toxics

The Environmental Protection Agency today released an "interim strategy" for addressing industrial discharges of the toxic fluorinated “forever chemicals” called PFAS. The strategy document encourages EPA officials, when issuing permits to industrial dischargers, to “consider” whether PFAS discharges should be limited but lacks any enforceable standards for such discharges.

Earlier this year, EWG reported results of tests that found the notorious carcinogen asbestos in samples of talc-based cosmetics. EWG-commissioned tests by Scientific Analytical Institute found asbestos in three of 21 cosmetics products, including two eye shadow palettes and one toy makeup kit marketed to children. 

In the wake of the Trump administration’s rollback of more than 100 federal environmental regulations, California has again showed leadership, with new laws to protect public health. In the past two years, EWG’s team in Sacramento shepherded numerous legislative proposals to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, with nearly every bill signed into law.

The Trump administration’s assault on science has been a disaster for children, according to a report in February from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Now the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offers the possibility of reversing the damage done to children’s health under the Trump administration, with its many rollbacks of public health protections and disregard for the heightened risk toxic chemicals pose to kids.

Toxic PFAS chemicals, notorious for contaminating drinking water supplies across the U.S., are harmful to nearly every human organ, and the immune system is particularly vulnerable. PFAS mixtures, which are used in a variety of consumer products, can be found in the body of nearly every American and in the developing fetus.

The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is not only a repudiation of President Trump, it is also a historic opportunity for the nation to advance the health, safety and equity of all Americans.

EWG News Roundup (10/30): Here’s some news you can use going into the weekend.

The Big Bang of the nationwide “forever chemicals” crisis was the revelation in 2001 that PFOA, a toxic compound used to make Teflon, had contaminated the drinking water for 70,000 people near a DuPont factory in West Virginia. Pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency forced DuPont and other companies to phase out PFOA, and they agreed not to use it after 2015.

It’s been 18 months since the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its plan to address the crisis of the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS, which a new peer-reviewed study by EWG scientists estimates have likely contaminated the drinking water of more than 200 million Americans.