EPA MUST Remove PFAS from Plastic Containers

Washington, DC — Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Center for Environmental Health (CEH) today submitted extensive comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demonstrating serious health risks from Inhance Technologies’ unlawful manufacture of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during its fluorination of hundreds of millions of plastic containers. The comments called on EPA to deny the company’s request for approval to continue this dangerous practice and use its authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to eliminate this unacceptable risk to human health and the environment.  

Nearly three years ago, EPA testing confirmed the presence of numerous PFAS in plastic containers subjected to fluorine treatment by Inhance to make them impermeable. These PFAS include PFOA, which was withdrawn from production in 2015 by its major manufacturers and was recently declared by the Agency to be a carcinogen with no safe level of exposure.  As EPA has repeatedly determined, Inhance’s ongoing PFAS production has violated 2020 TSCA regulations requiring careful EPA review before these substances can be reintroduced into commerce.  PEER and CEH and the Department of Justice are suing Inhance to stop this violation.