The Trump administration is proposing to loosen requirements for companies to report on their uses of “forever chemicals.”
These chemicals, many of which are toxic, have been used in a wide array of consumer and other applications, including to make items that are nonstick, waterproof and stain resistant.
While formally called PFAS, they have become known as “forever chemicals” because they can take hundreds or thousands of years to break down in the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday that it is moving to exempt some companies that make or import these chemicals from requirements to report them.
Specifically, if PFAS make up 0.1 percent or less of an item or mixture, the company that makes it would be exempt from the reporting requirement.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argued in a written statement that the change his agency is proposing would reduce costs for industry.
“This Biden-era rule would have imposed crushing regulatory burdens and nearly $1 billion in implementation costs on American businesses,” Zeldin said.
“Today’s proposal is grounded in commonsense and the law, allowing us to collect the information we need to help combat PFAS contamination without placing ridiculous requirements on manufacturers, especially the small businesses that drive our country’s economy,” he added.
The Biden administration imposed strict forever chemical reporting rules in 2023, arguing that the public deserves to know if they might be exposed to these toxic substances.
PFAS can be harmful even in tiny quantities. For example, the nation’s drinking water standards are set to outlaw PFAS at levels as low as four parts per trillion, the equivalent of a few drops in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Exposure to these substances has been linked to kidney, prostate and testicular cancer, as well as fertility and immune system issues.
