On December 5, 2024, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight held a hearing on “Examining the Public Health Impacts of PFAS Exposures.” The Subcommittee heard from the following witnesses (written testimony is not available at this time):

• Laurel Schaider, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Silent Spring Institute;
• Sue Fenton, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment, Professor of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University; and
• Michael D. Larrañaga, Ph.D., P.E., President and Managing Principal, R.E.M. Risk Consultants, on behalf of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).

A transcript of the hearing is available online.

Schaider testified that there needs to be a comprehensive strategy to address all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including fluorinated polymers, as a class. Schaider described how the manufacture of PFAS can expose workers and nearby communities to PFAS and how the disposal of products that contain PFAS can contaminate the environment. Fenton offered a number of suggestions for possible legislation, including: limiting the production and use of PFAS; requiring health insurance companies to pay for PFAS testing in susceptible populations; phasing out PFAS in firefighting foams (FFF); requiring manufacturers to provide standards in purified forms of their PFAS; and requiring PFAS manufacturers to fund the development of safe destruction methods for PFAS. Larrañaga stated that PFAS are part of our critical infrastructure and are used in the manufacture of products such as semiconductors, electronics, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, herbicides, insecticides, plastics, airplanes, automobiles, and buildings. Larrañaga urged that the use of PFAS be balanced against the risk of alternatives.

The hearing included discussion of the use of PFAS in consumer products, including non-stick pans and waterproof mascara, versus other products, such as cell phones and semiconductors. Schaider stated that the issue is not only non-essential uses of PFAS, as in cookware, but also the lifecycle of products that contain PFAS. There may be environmental contamination in communities where PFAS are manufactured, workers may be exposed during manufacture, and at the end of the lifecycle of the product, the PFAS could end up in a landfill or in emissions when incinerated.

During the hearing, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked whether all PFAS cause the same level of harm and noted the common definition of PFAS as “any compound containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.” Larrañaga responded that although fluoropolymers contain one fully fluorinated carbon atom, they are less bioavailable than other PFAS of concern. There could be an issue if heating them, but by removing that use from the marketplace, instead of banning all PFAS, there would be no adverse effect to critical infrastructure or defense. Schaider stated that, to her knowledge, no PFAS is completely safe. According to Schaider, newer PFAS replacement chemicals raise many of the same health concerns. Schaider suggested that an essential uses framework could be used to identify where PFAS uses can be reduced immediately.

The hearing included discussion of the best way to move forward. Fenton noted that even for essential uses, there is potential exposure to the waste and that proper disposal is important. According to Fenton, labeling products with intentionally added PFAS would allow consumers to make more informed choices. Subcommittee Chair Jeff Merkley (D-OR) suggested that there may be product categories where labeling is more important because the contamination pathway is more significant. Merkley concluded that Congress should continue to explore how to reduce the risk of PFAS to citizens.

Commentary

There is much discussion, seemingly everywhere, about PFAS, but no easy answers to the questions the Subcommittee considered. In a perfect world, PFAS would be comprehensively addressed as Schaider recommends, and all the unknowns about disposal, exposure, and toxicity would be known. But we do not live in that world, and many hard questions remain to be answered. The Subcommittee gets points for raising key issues, but did little to move the needle.

All eyes are now on the new kids in town — the incoming Trump Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator-Designate Lee Zeldin. We expect in 2025 a decidedly different focus on PFAS, but beyond this, much remains to be seen.

©2024 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. by: Lynn L. Bergeson, Carla N. Hutton of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. For more on the PFAS, visit the NLR Environmental Energy Resources section