The Struggle to Reduce “Forever Chemicals” (PFAS) in the United States

They are in food packaging, clothing, air, cookware, drinking water, soil, and fire-fighting foams: polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have invaded nearly every aspect of life in the United States. Referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFAS accumulates in one’s bloodstream, leading to a myriad of health impacts, including decreased fertility, bone variations in children, high cholesterol levels, obesity, reduced vaccine response, and increased risk for prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 97% of Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their body.

Currently, the largest federal action to combat PFAS stems from amendments under the Safe Water Drinking Act (SDWA). On December 17, 1974, the SDWA was signed into law. 22 years later, the SDWA was amended with the addition of Section 1412, which includes a requirement for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise and review national primary drinking water regulation every six years, at minimum, to maintain or increase public health protections. Moreover, Section 1412 requires that the EPA establishes a Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) once every five years. Such standards include Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), which set legally enforceable concentration limits for contaminants in drinking water.

On April 10, 2024, the EPA established the first National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) on PFAS. Through the authority granted under Section 1412, the EPA established MCLs for six individual PFAs (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA). To address combined and co-occurring levels of PFAS in drinking water, the EPA utilized a Hazard Index to establish MCLs for mixtures of two or more PFAS.

To enforce the MCLs, the EPA set a 2027 deadline by which public water systems must complete initial monitoring for the targeted PFAS. By 2029, public water systems must implement reduction efforts for PFAS exceeding the established MCLs. In an unprecedented effort to educate the public on the threat of PFAS in their drinking water, the EPA set a requirement for public water systems to provide information on PFAS levels in drinking water to the public. By 2029, the systems must alert the public of any MCL violations of PFAS in their drinking water.

The overturning of the Chevron doctrine in June 2024, just two months after the establishment of PFAS regulations, complicates the future of the EPA’s ability to mitigate PFAS pollution. The Chevron doctrine—commonly referred to as the “Chevron Deference”—resulted from the landmark case Chevron U.S.A., Inc v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., which determined that the courts should defer to an agency’s interpretations of ambiguous laws, so long as they are reasonable. However, the overruling of the Chevron Deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo removed the legal precedent that allowed courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of a law, instead requiring courts to independently review the agency’s regulations.

Consequently, the EPA faces potential legal challenges to its PFAS regulations, as no explicit legislation exists to decrease PFAS pollution. PFAS manufacturers and industries that rely on PFAS for production—including the automotive, electronic, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries—have begun to argue that the EPA does not have a legitimate definition nor clear metric for classifying chemicals as contaminants dangerous to public health. Without the Chevron Deference, legal cases may challenge the EPA’s authority to set the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation on PFAS, underscoring the demand for concrete legislation to combat the “forever chemicals” that threaten nearly every individual in the United States.

Edited by Sophia Berg

Endnotes

[1] U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)." Public Health. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/pfas.asp.

[2] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS." EPA. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas.

[3] National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)." National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc.

[4] American Water Works Association. "Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)." American Water Works Association (AWWA). Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.awwa.org/safe-water-drinking-act/#overview.

[5] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Safe Drinking Water Act Requirements for the Six-Year Reviews." EPA. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/dwsixyearreview/safe-drinking-water-act-requirements-six-year-reviews.

[6] Olson, Erik D. "The Broken Safe Drinking Water Act Won’t Fix the PFAS Crisis." Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.nrdc.org/bio/erik-d-olson/broken-safe-drinking-water-act-wont-fix-pfas-crisis.

[7] Ibid.

[8] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)." EPA. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Legal Information Institute. "Chevron Deference." Cornell Law School. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/chevron_deference.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024).

[17] Pillsbury Law. "Chevron Deference & EPA’s PFAS Hazardous Substance Rule." Pillsbury Law PFAS Resource Center. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://pfas.pillsburylaw.com/chevron-deference-epas-pfas-hazardous-substance-rule.