Risk Management for Per

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals. Examples of where PFAS can be found include cleaners, textiles, leather, paper and paints, fire-fighting foams, and wire insulation. Certain PFAS can accumulate and stay in the human body for long periods of time. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. Get basic information on what PFAS are, where they are found, and other EPA actions.

EPA has taken a range of regulatory actions to address PFAS substances in manufacturing and consumer products as noted below. EPA’s New Chemicals program reviews alternatives for PFOA and related chemicals before they enter the marketplace to identify whether the range of toxicity, fate and bioaccumulation issues that have caused past concerns with perfluorinated substances may be present in order to ensure that the new chemicals may not present an unreasonable risk to health or the environment. In addition, EPA developed and industry implemented a global stewardship program with the goal of eliminating these chemicals from emissions and products by 2015.

PFAS are synthetic chemical substances with special properties and hundreds of manufacturing and industrial applications. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA), a subset of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that does not occur naturally in the environment.

EPA has investigated PFOA because it:

PFOA was used as an aqueous dispersing agent to make fluoropolymers. PFOA is no longer used in United States to manufacture fluoropolymers but some fluoropolymers containing PFOA are imported as part of articles. Fluoropolymers impart valuable properties, including fire resistance and oil, stain, grease, and water repellency to articles, and are used in many industry segments, including the aerospace, automotive, building/construction, chemical processing, electronics, semiconductors, and textile industries.

PFOA can also be produced by the breakdown of some fluorinated telomers, substances that are used in surface treatment products to impart soil, stain, grease, and water resistance. Some telomers are also used as high performance surfactants in products that must flow evenly, such as paints, coatings, and cleaning products, fire-fighting foams for use on liquid fuel fires, or the engineering coatings used in semiconductor manufacture.

AFFF that contain PFAS are typically used to extinguish highly flammable or combustible liquid Class B fires, such as fires involving gas tankers and oil refineries. The biggest users of AFFF are in the U.S. military, petrochemical, and aviation industries.

Releases of AFFF should be minimized because PFAS are persistent in the environment. In using AFFF, care should be taken to minimize its release into the environment. EPA encourages the use of training foams that are available which simulate AFFF without containing PFAS.

In the late 1990's, EPA received information indicating that perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS) was widespread in the blood of the general population and presented concerns for persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity. Following discussions between EPA and the 3M, the manufacturer of PFOS, the company terminated production of these chemicals.

Studies have found other related perfluorinated compounds, including perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs), in very small amounts in the blood of the general human population as well as wildlife. Although most of the health and environmental studies have focused primarily on PFOS, analysis of the structure of the compounds indicates that the results of those studies may be applied to a larger category of PFSA chemicals. EPA believes that the chemical similarity between PFOS and PFSA raises the likelihood that health and environmental concerns are similarly present for PFSA compounds. Following the voluntary phaseout of PFOS by the principal worldwide manufacturer, EPA took prompt regulatory actions in 2002 and 2007 under the TSCA to limit any future manufacture or importation of 271 PFSA chemicals, essentially encompassing all PFSA chemicals on the U.S. market.

Findings on PFOS and PFSA led EPA to review similar chemicals to determine whether they might present similar concerns. The agency began investigating PFOA in 1990s and found that it, too, is very persistent in the environment, is found at very low levels both in the environment and in the blood of the general U.S. population, and causes developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals.

EPA summarized its concerns and identified data gaps and uncertainties about PFOA in the April 16, 2003, Federal Register notice. Supporting information is available in EPA docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2003-0012.

Beginning in 2003, EPA negotiated with multiple parties to produce missing information on PFOA through enforceable consent agreements (ECAs), memoranda of understanding (MOUs), and voluntary commitments. The ECA incineration testing of fluoropolymers and fluorotelomers concluded that the waste incineration of fluoropolymers and fluorotelomer-based polymers does not emit detectable levels of PFOA under conditions representative of typical municipal waste combustor operations in the U.S. and, therefore, is not expected to be a source of PFOA in the environment. All data generated under ECAs is available in EPA dockets EPA-HQ-OPPT-2003-0071 (Fluoropolymer Incineration ECA) and EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0001 (Fluorotelomer Incineration ECA). All data generated under MOUs is available in EPA dockets EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0112 (3M PFOA MOU) and EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0113 (DuPont PFOA MOU). In 2006, EPA and the eight major companies in the PFASs industry launched the PFOA Stewardship program.

Currently, EPA evaluates substitutes for PFOA, PFOS, and other long-chain PFASs as part of its review process for new chemicals under TSCA New Chemicals Program. Over 300 alternatives of various types have been received and reviewed by EPA. EPA reviews the new substances against the range of toxicity, fate and bioaccumulation issues that have caused past concerns with perfluorinated substances, as well as any issues that may be raised by new chemistries. EPA requires testing for PFAS chemicals and polyfluorinated ethers it reviews under its new chemical process. For some of these chemicals, EPA requires degradation testing before the chemical can be commercialized.

In 2006, EPA invited eight major leading companies in the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) industry to join in a global stewardship program with two goals:

Participating companies included:

All companies have met the PFOA Stewardship Program goals. Read the final progress reports.

All public documents from the PFOA Stewardship Program are available in EPA Docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2006-0621.

Read 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program fact sheet for more information.

All of the "EPA-HQ-OPPT" dockets are available on the Federal Dockets website, www.regulations.gov. Use the "Advanced Search" feature and search on the complete docket number.

Administrative Record AR-226 is not currently available online, but copies can be requested on CD-ROM from the EPA Docket Office by calling 202-566-0280 or sending an email request to: [email protected].

EPA has established the following public dockets for the various activities related to PFAS: