New EPA rule designates two 'forever chemicals' as hazardous substances

April 20 (UPI) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has designated two PFAS substances, commonly known as "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances under the United States' Superfund law.

The rule designates perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, as hazardous substances, allowing the EPA to investigate and clean up contaminations of the toxic chemicals, the agency announced Friday.

The rule also allows EPA to charge polluters for the clean-up, putting the onus on companies who have used PFAS chemicals in the manufacturing process, as well as federal and industrial entities.

The EPA said the move is part of President Joe Biden's larger PFAS elimination strategy under the agency's PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

"President Biden understands the threat that 'forever chemicals' pose to the health of families across the country," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said. "That's why EPA launched its PFAS Strategic Roadmap, a whole-of-agency approach to protecting public health and addressing the harm to communities overburdened by PFAS pollution."

PFAS substances are called forever chemicals because they take a long time to break down in the environment and in the human body.

They have been used in products like Teflon, waterproof jackets and firefighting foam for decades for their oil- and water-repellant properties, but as these products deteriorate, the chemicals leech into the environment and pollute landfills, soil and drinking water.

The EPA ruling comes after studies that show they are linked to cancer and birth defects, as well as heart and liver disease. An estimated 98% of people have PFAS chemicals in their blood.

Farmers, water utilities, airports and fire departments that may have inadvertently polluted drinking water supplies with PFAS will not be held accountable under the new EPA rule.

"The policy certainly makes it clear that water and wastewater utilities should not be held responsible, that they are passive receivers of these substances," Jennifer Pederson, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Works Association, told WBUR Radio in Boston.

Environmentalists said the action is a good start, but that the EPA ought to go further and ban the entire class of PFAS chemicals.

Dana Colihan, co-executive director of environmental advocacy group Slingshot, said the ruling is "particularly important" for low-income people and minorities who are more likely to live near industrial sites and waste facilities that have high levels of contamination.

"That being said, there are literally over 14,000 [types of] PFAS out there, and the EPA needs to list all of these chemicals as a class under Superfund," Colihan told the Boston broadcaster.

Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America Research and Policy Center's Washington office, said in a statement, "this announcement is a critical step toward getting PFAS out of our waterways and making polluters pay. Now, we need to turn off the tap on toxic PFAS everywhere."

The EPA earlier in April established its first-ever legally enforceable drinking water standard in the United States, a move the agency said will protect 100 million people from PFAS exposure and prevent tens of thousands of serious illnesses.