The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken two separate actions on per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), both being part of its PFAS strategic roadmap, which aims to implement legislation by Q4 to reduce and destroy PFAS contamination in water, air and soil.

Under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, the agency has laid down new standards with legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) on five individual PFAS. These are more stringent than previously mooted limits:

Chemours, DuPont and Corteva have reached an agreement in principle to resolve all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)-related drinking water claims of a defined class of public water systems that serve “the vast majority of the US population”. They will pay about $592 million, $400 million and $193 million respectively into a settlement fund by 12 June.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has filed a petition in DC Circuit Court challenging the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisories (LHAs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, above) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). These are both part of the much-maligned wider group of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).