The Biden-Harris administration aims to expand research into how Americans are exposed to harmful “forever chemicals” and how to safely dispose of the materials, according to a new plan that could inform future regulations.
The strategic plan from the White House National Science and Technology Council — shared first with POLITICO’s E&E News — outlines the administration’s research and development priorities for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The long-lasting man-made chemicals have become widespread in the environment, and some versions of them are linked to serious human health problems.
A focus of the plan is better understanding the toxicity of different kinds of PFAS, of which there are thousands. For example, it calls for developing “scientifically supported classification schemes” to categorize different PFAS based on how they affect human health and the environment.
That could eventually help agencies such as EPA set limits on “classes” of PFAS, rather than having to regulate each specific version of the chemical individually, White House officials said.
