October 11, 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued its fifth order requiring testing of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to PFAS manufacturers under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The October 8, 2024 test order comes under EPA’s National PFAS Testing Strategy, and addresses the PFAS 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl prop-2-enoate, also known as 6:2 fluorotelomer acrylate or 6:2 FTAc.
EPA developed the National PFAS Testing Strategy (Strategy) to better understand PFAS and gather toxicity data needed to inform future actions to protect public health and the environment. The Strategy involves requiring PFAS manufacturers to provide toxicity data on PFAS based on a categorical approach aimed at supporting greater efficiency to account for the thousands of compounds within the PFAS class.
This latest order requires five companies—Innovative Chemical Technologies; The Chemours Company; Daikin America, Inc.; Sumitomo Corporation of Americas; and E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company—to conduct testing on 6:2 FTAc and submit results to EPA within 390 days (hydrolysis as a function of pH test only) and one year (all other tests) of the effective date of the order. Between one and 20 million pounds of FTAc are produced each year for the manufacture of plastics, resins, textiles, apparel, leather, and other chemicals.
Exposure to 6:2 FTAc, as with other PFAS, is anticipated to result in adverse health outcomes, including liver and heart impacts, increased cancer risk, and immune and developmental harm to infants and children. Because of the potential for exposure and health hazards, EPA has determined that the compound may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, supporting issuance of the TSCA test order. EPA will use the information submitted pursuant to the order to better understand 6:2 FTAc and similarly-structured PFAS compounds and determine future testing needs.