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On October 29, 2025, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) announced that it filed an Information Quality Act (IQA) request with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding statements on EPA's website that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been phased out of domestic production. According to PEER, two EPA publications on its website contain erroneous information about PFOA:
- "EPA Questions and Answers About TSCA," Q8 states: "[Is] ... perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and other long-chain [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)] still being manufactured or imported into United States?" According to EPA's answer, "[t]he manufacture and import of PFOA has also been phased out in United States as part of the PFOA Stewardship program. Existing stocks of PFOA might still be used and there might be PFOA in some imported articles."
- "EPA Questions and Answers about Designation of PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances under CERCLA" includes the questions "Have PFOA and PFOS been phased out? Are they still in use?" EPA states: "Domestic production and import of PFOA has been phased out in the United States by the companies participating in the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. Small quantities of PFOA may be produced, imported, and used by companies not participating in the PFOA Stewardship Program . . . ."
According to PEER, these statements are inaccurate, incomplete, and misleading. PEER cites EPA's discovery in December 2022 that "post-mold fluorination of plastic containers resulted in the manufacture of PFOA and numerous other PFAS." PEER notes that "[o]nce EPA identified the company fluorinating the plastic bottles which resulted in the manufacture of PFOA and other PFAS, EPA learned that 200 million containers were fluorinated annually, and used in numerous sectors of commerce." In December 2023, EPA stated that "[t]hese data therefore show that . . . [PFOA is] . . . still being manufactured during the Company's fluorination process," contradicting its statement that PFOA is no longer being manufactured in the United States. PEER seeks the public withdrawal of these questions and answers and asks that EPA "[i]ssue a public statement, posted on official websites and accompanied by an EPA press release, that PFOA is manufactured in the United States today."
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