Advocates argue, however, that under the Trump administration, the government failed to take real action on PFAS.
E.P.A. APPROVED FRACKING AGO NEW FILES CRACK
Much of that usage would have come long before the 2016 overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, which gave EPA renewed authority to crack down on chemicals. But the physician group’s report indicated that PFAS may have been used for decades in those operations. Limited publicly available information makes it challenging to know the exact substances used in oil and gas activities and the extent of EPA concerns. Chemours has assumed significant litigation as part of the fallout from DuPont’s PFAS contamination, resulting in a $4 billion settlement in January ( Greenwire, Jan. A company spokesperson declined to comment but noted that Chemours was not in existence at the time of the initial approval request. Records indicate that the chemical giant DuPont asked for the approval, with reporting responsibility later passing to its spinoff, Chemours Co. Regulators also noted test results indicating "liver toxicity, blood toxicity, and male reproductive toxicity" as well as "concern for immunosuppression and oncogenicity."īut the agency signed off on the chemicals for use despite those misgivings. The presumed perfluorinated degradants for these PMN substances include. "EPA has concerns that these degradation products will persist in the environment, could bioaccumulate or biomagnify, and could be toxic (PBT) to people, wild mammals, and birds based on data on analog chemicals, including PFOA and. The document went on to cite "preliminary evidence" that the chemicals could degrade upon use and become persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or PBT. "EPA is concerned that these perfluorinated degradation products may be released to the environment from incomplete incineration of the PMN substances at low temperatures," the agency wrote in a heavily redacted consent order. They also highlighted potential problems with disposal of the chemicals. At the time, regulators worried that the chemicals used could break down into compounds similar to PFOA - a type of PFAS that is no longer manufactured in the United States due to concerns about its health implications, including causing cancer. The revelations further public awareness about the extent of PFAS use at a time when the chemicals are facing fire from lawmakers and regulators.Īccording to the documents released to the advocacy group under FOIA, EPA reviewed the three proposed chemicals in 2010. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, recent findings show they are also likely in common plastic packaging, bringing them into close contact with food.
PFAS (which number in the thousands) are prized for their grease- and water-resistant properties, and are widely used in everything from household items to industrial firefighting foam. "Considering the terrible history of pollution associated with PFAS, EPA and state governments need to move quickly to ensure that the public knows where these chemicals have been used and is protected from their impacts."
"The evidence that people could be unknowingly exposed to these extremely toxic chemicals through oil and gas operations is disturbing," report author Dusty Horwitt said in a statement. Those activities occurred in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. are among companies that have used either PFAS or chemicals that can degrade into PFAS in fracking at more than 1,200 wells between 20, according to industry records.
A report out today examines the Obama EPA’s approval of three PFAS chemicals for use in oil and gas production, despite concerns among agency staff and indicators that the agency may have relied on "dubious assumptions."Įxxon Mobil Corp.
0 kommentar(er)
