By Trista Talton
The Chemours Company is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its recent health advisory for GenX, one of the contaminants released for years into the Cape Fear River from the company’s Fayetteville plant.
Chemours is challenging the EPA’s review of the agency’s health advisory for dime acid hexafluoropropylene oxide, or HFPO-DA (GenX), arguing that the agency failed to use the best available science in making its decision. Read also : INFORMATION: President Biden’s maternal health plan is provided to women, mothers and families.
“Nationally recognized toxicologists and other leading scientific experts across a range of disciplines have evaluated the EPA’s basic analysis and concluded that it is fundamentally flawed,” according to a Chemours statement. “EPA’s own peer reviewer called aspects of the EPA’s toxicity assessment (which forms the basis of the health advisory) ‘extreme’ and ‘excessive.'” The agency disregarded relevant data and incorporated grossly inaccurate and overstated exposure assumptions in devising the health adviser. The EPA’s failure to use the best available science and follow its own standards is contrary to this administration’s commitment to scientific integrity, and we believe it is illegal.”
The suit filed Wednesday in the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia specifically names EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who is also the former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Chemours warned it could take legal action against the EPA after the agency’s assistant water administrator, Radhika Fox, issued the final health advisory June 15.
Fox made the announcement at the third National PFAS Conference held in downtown Wilmington, a city and surrounding region that gained national attention five years ago when news broke that Chemours’ Fayetteville Work Facility had been releasing substances per- and polyfluoroalkyl into the area. Cape Fear River, sky and ground.
The EPA’s final health advisory for GenX is 10 parts per trillion, or ppt and, for perfluorobutane sulfonic acid, or PFBS, at 2,000 ppt. PFBS has not been detected in significant concentrations in samples in North Carolina, according to DEQ.
The agency also issued an updated interim health advisory for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS.
GenX was created to replace PFOA, which was voluntarily phased out of production more than 10 years ago in the US
Chemours says in its news release that HFPO-DA is not a commercial product and does not pose human health or environmental risks “when used for its intended purpose.”
Health studies of animals that ingested GenX show health effects in the kidneys, blood, immune system, liver and developing fetuses, according to the EPA’s toxicity assessment.
Chemours argues that the GenX toxicity assessment published in October 2021 was “significantly different” from a draft assessment published in November 2018 and that the EPA did not provide public notice or allow public comment on the new assessment.
What are PFAS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and an estimated 5,000 types of PFAS, none of which are federally regulated . PFAS have been produced and used by industries around the world since the 1940s, used in everything from Teflon pans to raincoats to dental floss. Read also : Saint Francis completes 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment. They are also used in fire fighting foams.
The two most produced and studied, PFOA and PFOS, have been phased out in the United States, but they do not break down easily and can accumulate in the environment and in the human body. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse effects on human health.
“After reviewing the October 2021 Toxicity Assessment, Chemours and outside experts identified a number of material scientific deficiencies, including its failure to incorporate highly relevant peer-reviewed studies that are available and that it significantly overstates the potential for risk associated with HFPO-DA,” according to the release.
The EPA did not respond to an email request for comment Wednesday.
EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Benita Best-Wong defended the GenX toxicity assessment in a letter to a law firm representing six North Carolina health and environmental groups, stating that the assessment “was subject to two rigorous independent peer reviews by scientists screened for conflicts of interest in 2018 and 2021.”
Best-Wong went on to write that the agency asked the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ National Toxicology Program to conduct an independent review of liver histopathology slides from two studies.
The agency published detailed responses to comments from the two peer reviews and the assessment was put out for public review and comment for 60 days, he wrote.
That letter was in response to the groups’ call for the EPA to order Chemours to conduct health studies on 54 PFAS. Those groups, including Cape Fear River Watch, Center for Environmental Health, Clean Cape Fear, Democracy Green, Black League of NC and Toxic Free NC, filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to require Chemours to conduct the studies .
The EPA’s health advisory for GenX replaces the state’s 2018 interim drinking water health goal of 140 ppt.
A consent order between DEQ, Cape Fear River Watch and Chemours requires the company to provide whole-house filtration for homes that rely on private water wells where GenX concentrations exceed the health advisory.
“We expect Chemours to fulfill its obligations under the Consent Order and to the communities affected by the PFAS contamination,” Sharon Martin, DEQ’s deputy public affairs secretary, said in an email Wednesday.
Cape Fear River Watch Executive Director Dana Sargent said in a telephone interview that she was “shaken” by the lawsuit.
“This is going to be very upsetting for the community to hear this news and keep looking at advertisements and this nonsense saying (Chemours) are good neighbours,” he said. “I think Chemours needs to recognize that they cannot continue to claim to be good neighbors when suing the nation’s regulatory agency based on their assessment of GenX’s level of toxicity, which was done under strict calculations based on the science that is on get on health. GenX effects. Science is science.”
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Is Brunswick County NC water safe to drink?
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Drinking water in a part of Brunswick County is considered the most toxic in the United States, according to new tests. Wilmington is ranked 5th.
Where does Brunswick County get its water from? Our water comes from two sources, the Cape Fear River, which is pumped to us by the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority, and groundwater from the Castle Hayne Aquifer. Read also : How TikTok Became a Mental Health Resource.
Is the water in Leland NC safe to drink?
The annual BestPlaces Water Quality Index for the Leland area is 47 (100=best). The US average is 55. Note that this is a measure of Watershed quality, not the water coming from your faucet. The EPA has stated that there is a close link between a healthy watershed and drinking water quality.
Is North Carolina water contaminated?
Big problem, small response. North Carolina is said to have the third worst PFAS contamination problems of any state in the country. Yet at least nine other states have set maximum contamination levels for some of the more common types of PFAS in public drinking water.
How does PFAS get into your body?
PFOS, PFOA and other PFAS can enter your body if you breathe air, eat food or drink water that contains them. It is not known how much will enter your body through your lungs or gut. Also, if PFAS comes into contact with skin, a small amount may enter the body through your skin.
Can PFAS be inhaled? Workers can be exposed to PFAS by breathing them in, getting them on their skin, and swallowing them, but inhalation is the most likely route of exposure.
Where does most PFAS exposure come from?
Current research has shown that people can be exposed to PFAS through:
- Work in occupations such as firefighting or chemical manufacturing and processing.
- Drinking water contaminated with PFAS.
- Eating certain foods that may contain PFAS, including fish.
- Ingestion of contaminated soil or dust.
- Breathing air that contains PFAS.
How do I get rid of PFAS?
Activated carbon treatment is the most studied treatment for PFAS removal. Activated carbon is commonly used to adsorb natural organic compounds, taste and odor compounds, and synthetic organic chemicals in drinking water treatment systems.
Do solar panels contain PFAS?
1 The fact is that PFAS are not normally used in solar panels because safer and more effective alternatives have already been developed and commercialized. Furthermore, no studies have shown the presence or leaching of PFAS from PV panels – either while they are in active use or at the end of their life (eg, in a landfill).
Is there anything toxic in solar panels? Toxic metals such as lead and cadmium can also be present in solar panels. Solar panels can contain essential materialsExit Exit EPA website, including aluminum, tin, tellurium, and antimony, as well as gallium and indium in some thin film modules.
Do solar panels contaminate drinking water?
Solar energy collection systems do not pollute the water or the air.
What products have the most Pfas?
- Some grease-resistant paper, fast food containers/wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, and candy wrappers.
- Stain resistant coatings used on carpets, upholstery and other fabrics.
- Water resistant clothing.
- Cleaning products.
- Personal care products (shampoo, dental floss) and cosmetics (nail polish, eye make-up)
Do solar panels leach toxic chemicals?
Solar panels contain photovoltaic (PV) cells that convert sunlight into electricity. When these panels go to landfill, valuable resources are wasted. And because solar panels contain toxic materials like lead that can leach out as they break down, landfilling also creates new environmental hazards.
