Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Authority changes limit values
USA wants to contain “eternal chemicals”
A weakened immune system or an increased risk of cancer are possible effects of per- or polyfluorinated chemicals. They are used in pizza boxes, but also in cleaning agents and paints. The use of these “eternal chemicals” is to be restricted in the USA.
They are used in numerous products, but in nature they are extremely durable and pose health risks: so-called perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals, or PFAS for short (in German PFC). The US Environmental Protection Agency now wants to curb the use of substances known as “perpetual chemicals”. As the EPA announced yesterday, Monday, among other things, new limit values for drinking water pollution are to be introduced within the next three years.
In addition, certain PFAS compounds are to be classified as “dangerous substances” and manufacturers are to be obliged to provide information on the toxicity of the chemicals. “For far too long families in America – especially in underserved communities – have suffered from PFAS in their water, in their air or in the soil their children play on,” said EPA chief Michael Regan. With the new national strategy for PFAS, there should now be “courageous and concrete” steps with regard to the entire life cycle of the chemicals.
A three-step approach is envisaged: increase research on PFAS, reduce its spread in the environment and accelerate the clean-up of already contaminated areas. The US environmental organization Environmental Working Group (EWG) said “thousands of communities” have already “found toxic eternal chemicals in their water,” and that nearly 400 military facilities are exposed to PFAS. The EWG estimates that “more than 200 million Americans drink water contaminated with PFAS”.
Environmentalists: The problem has been known for over 20 years
The environmentalists welcomed the initiative of the environmental authority, but criticized at the same time that this step was too late. “The EPA has known about the risks posed by PFAS since at least 1998, but has failed to act,” the group said.
Several thousand chemicals belong to the group of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated substances. According to the EPA, they are used in food packaging such as pizza boxes, but also in cleaning agents, paints and varnishes or coatings. At the same time, the substances that decompose extremely slowly in nature have already been detected in animals from polluted waters or dairy products, for example.
The substances accumulate in the body. Some studies come to the conclusion that PFAS can have effects on fertility or lead to developmental delays in children. An increased risk of obesity and certain types of cancer such as prostate, kidney or testicular cancer is also cited, as well as increased cholesterol levels or a weakened immune response to certain infections or after vaccination.
In the EU, “perpetual chemicals” are to be banned
In Germany, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) warned in July last year that children and young people had too many long-lasting chemicals in their blood and that the damage they caused was often still unexplored. According to the Federal Environment Ministry, PFAS are also used in numerous consumer products such as cosmetics, cookware, paper coatings, textiles and ski waxes because of their water, grease and dirt-repellent properties and their great chemical and thermal stability.
On the occasion of a specialist conference on chemicals, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze announced last November that no more PFAS should enter the environment in the EU in future. “The German chemical authorities are currently preparing, together with their European partners, to ban all PFAS that are not socially indispensable,” she explained. Germany is advancing here “together with Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden”.