They can be present in water, air, food, packaging or even in shampoos or makeup ... The United States announced Monday, October 18 to tackle PFAS, ultra-widespread chemicals but harmful to health.
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a roadmap for the next three years aimed in particular at setting maximum thresholds in drinking water for these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
There are several thousand of them: their common point is that they disintegrate extremely slowly, which sometimes has earned them the nickname "
eternal chemicals
".
Once ingested, they accumulate in the body.
"A comprehensive national strategy"
According to some studies, exposure to PFAS can lead to fertility problems, developmental delays in children, increased risk of obesity or certain cancers (prostate, kidney, testicle ...), an increase in the rate. cholesterol or even a decrease in the immune response to certain infections or after a vaccine.
The American agency plans to designate certain PFAS as “
dangerous substances
” and to demand that manufacturers who produce them provide information on their toxicity.
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"
For far too long, American families - especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods - have suffered from PFAS in their water, their air or the grounds on which their children play
," the EPA chief said in a statement, Michael Regan.
“
This comprehensive national strategy on PFAS will protect those who suffer from them, taking concrete and courageous action to tackle the full life cycle of these chemicals.
"
200 million Americans infected
The roadmap is based on three axes: increase research on PFAS, act to “
limit
” their dissemination in the environment and accelerate the clean-up of contaminated sites. "
Thousands of communities have already detected these perennial chemicals in their water,
" according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which estimates that 200 million Americans drink drinking water contaminated with these PFAS. While welcoming the measures announced, EWG regretted in a statement that this action by the US government comes "
decades
" late. "
The EPA has known the risks posed by PFAS since 1998 but has failed to act,
" denounced the association.
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PFAS can notably be found in food packaging, such as pizza boxes, but also in certain cleaning products, paints, varnishes or coatings, according to the EPA.
They can also be found in fish from contaminated water, or dairy products, due to the exposure of livestock to these products on certain sites.
