‘A threat to public health’: EPA quietly removes drinking water protections for cancer-linked forever chemicals to appease lobbyists

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quietly removed key regulations that were put in place to protect the country’s drinking water from cancer-causing “forever” chemicals. The Trump administration removed the regulations on Monday, saying the Biden administration had failed to follow the law when it put them in place.

According to CNN, these chemicals, known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been linked to cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage, hormone disruption, and damage to the immune system, according to the EPA. PFAS chemicals have been manufactured since the 1940s to make products nonstick, stain-resistant, and water-repellent, and they can last for many decades in the environment.

The regulations removed by the EPA include restrictions on four PFAS chemicals: perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), also known as GenX, and a mixture of these chemicals. Experts say these chemicals are dangerous to public health on their own, and even more hazardous when combined.

The EPA’s rollback puts millions of Americans at risk of drinking contaminated water

The EPA’s decision has drawn strong criticism from environmental groups, including the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “The Trump EPA is caving to chemical industry lobbyists and water utility pressure – and in doing so it is condemning millions of Americans to drink contaminated water for years to come,” said Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the EWG.

The Biden administration’s previous regulations on PFOA and PFOS, two of the most harmful contaminants, will stay in place. However, drinking water systems can now apply for an additional two years to comply, pushing the deadline from 2029 to 2031. 

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the action will “shave years from a process where that regulation would get thrown out, and we would have to start again.” Public health experts warn that delays like these add to a growing list of emerging health threats facing Americans.

Cook also warned about the cost of this decision on ordinary people: “The price of this decision will be paid by ordinary people, in the form of more PFAS-related diseases.” Critics also argue the move violates the anti-backsliding provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires that any revision to a drinking water standard “maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons.”

Eric Olson, senior strategic director for health at the NRDC, also criticized the decision, saying, “EPA’s proposals to revoke four forever chemical standards and to allow water systems to opt-in to extensions of this five-year deadline by two years for PFOA and PFOS not only pose a threat to public health, they also violate the letter and intent of the law.”

Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, whose film “Dark Waters” brought public attention to the PFAS issue, called the new EPA action “a recipe for more suffering.” “Weakening the PFAS drinking water standards will make America sicker, not healthier, and dishonors people who have been poisoned by PFAS polluters without their knowledge or consent,” he said in a statement. 

This rollback comes at a time when food and water safety concerns are already rising, with bacteria outbreaks linked to backyard chickens hospitalizing people across multiple states. He added, “The moniker for this administration is ‘Make America Cancerous Again.’ Let’s cut the crap and call it how it is.”