McClellan Applauds EPA’s Actions to Limit PFAS Exposure Resulting from Plastics Fluorination

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of orders to direct Inhance Technologies LLC not to produce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals that are created in the production of its plastic containers.

In July, McClellan led eleven of her House colleagues in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, expressing concerns about the Inhance process and urging the EPA to comprehensively address PFAS created by the fluorination of plastics.

In December 2022, Inhance submitted significant new use notices (SNUNs) for nine long-chain PFAS. In today’s announcement, EPA prohibited the manufacture of three of these PFAS – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) – which are highly toxic and present unreasonable risks. EPA also determined that the other six PFAS produced by Inhance’s process – PFuDA, PFDoA, PFTrDA, PFTeDA, PFHxDA, and PFODA – may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. Under EPA’s new orders, Inhance’s fluorination process must be changed or discontinued by February 2024, because it concurrently produces all nine PFAS. 

“I commend Administrator Michael Regan and the EPA for issuing these orders to protect American consumers from exposure to dangerous PFAS chemicals in plastic containers that people use every day,” said Congresswoman McClellan. “Exposure to PFAS can lead to severe, adverse health outcomes and disproportionately impacts low-income communities, communities of color, and other vulnerable populations. Today’s actions are an important step in advancing environmental justice for historically marginalized communities. I will continue looking for opportunities to reduce the risks of PFAS exposure and protect the health of Americans across the country.”

Fluorination is a process that involves treating plastic containers with fluorine gas in order to make them impermeable. Hundreds of millions of fluorinated plastic containers are manufactured and used across the country, increasing the risk of PFAS exposure to factory workers and communities in proximity to landfills and plastic recycling facilities. Recent studies have also shown that PFAS formed as a result of fluorination can migrate to the container contents, increasing the risk of direct human consumption.

McClellan’s July PFAS letter was cosigned by Reps. Sean Casten (IL-06), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Robert García (CA-42), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Deborah Ross (NC-02), and Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). 

Read the EPA’s full announcement here. Read McClellan’s July PFAS letter here.