March 28, 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the fourth in a series of orders under Section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requiring testing of a per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). This action comes under EPA’s National PFAS Testing Strategy (Strategy), a strategy the Agency has developed 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 considering the thousands of compounds within the PFAS class.
This latest test order requires 3M Company and Wacker Chemical Corporation to test the physical-chemical properties of the PFAS compound 2-(N-Methylperfluoro-1-octanesulfonamido)ethanol (NMeFOSE), including health effects from inhalation. The compound has been used extensively in products such as clothing, carpet treatments, and furniture coatings. Tests have found NMeFOSE in air, biosolids, indoor dust and air, and in various environmental media outdoors.
EPA has determined, based on review of existing data, that exposure to NMeFOSE may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment (a standard relevant for application of TSCA authority). Potential health risks include adverse impacts on the nervous and immune systems and cancer.
The order went into effect on March 25. It affords the companies certain flexibilities in compliance, such as conducting testing jointly or providing existing data that meets the order’s requirements. In accordance with TSCA, the order takes a tiered approach to testing, with the first tier of testing data due to EPA on March 25, 2025. Based on the first-tier results, EPA will determine next steps, including the need for further testing.
Consistent with the goal behind the Strategy, greater understanding of NMeFOSE would go beyond this singular PFAS chemical and aid in the understanding of over 100 similar PFAS compounds.