Press Releases

LOWELL, MA – During Sunday’s airing of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver demonstrated in excruciating detail the dangers of PFAS chemicals and the decades-long need for action to address this issue facing communities across the Commonwealth and the nation.

“These chemicals have been linked to a massive array of health issues. High exposure to [PFOA and PFOS] have been linked to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, pregnancy-induced hypertension, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and decreased response to vaccines, which is clearly terrible,” Oliver said. “PFAS are what’s known as ‘forever chemicals.’ Studies have estimated they ‘have lifetimes in the thousands of years.’ And that combination of toxicity and longevity is a real problem.”

PFAS chemicals are manmade and have been used in common products such as firefighting foam, non-stick cookware, water resistant clothing, cleaning products, paints and sealants, personal care products, and cosmetics since the 1940s. These “forever chemicals” have been discovered in the drinking water of more than 2,000 communities nationwide, including in 50 public water sources reported in Massachusetts this year alone.

As Oliver points out during his monologue, manufacturers and distributors of products containing PFAS have known for decades about the dangers the chemicals pose to people’s health but done little about it. In fact, despite warnings, some companies were dumping so much PFAS into waterways that they couldn’t keep track of the exact amount. As recently as last year, DuPont was still discharging PFAS chemicals into waterways used as drinking water sources.

Oliver goes on to highlight the lack of action from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to limitations under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Understanding this pressing issue and the need for long overdue updates to the law that will bolster the EPA’s ability to protect people from PFAS contamination, the House took up and passed H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act of 2021, legislation that Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) helped shepherd through the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Specifically, the PFAS Action Act would:

Stem the flow of PFAS contamination into the environment by requiring cleanup of sites contaminated with PFOA and PFOS – two of the most hazardous PFAS chemicals – as well as setting air emission limits, prohibiting unsafe incineration of PFAS, and limiting the introduction of new PFAS chemicals into commerce;

• Identify health risks by requiring comprehensive health testing for all PFAS, reporting of PFAS releases, and monitoring for PFAS in drinking water;

• Inform communities of PFAS risks by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a risk-communication strategy and establish a website with information on testing of household well water;

• Limit human exposure to PFAS by requiring a drinking water standard for PFAS that protects public health, including the health of vulnerable subpopulations like pregnant women, infants, and children, and holding polluters accountable;

• Provide grants to impacted water systems, create a voluntary label for cookware that is PFAS free, provide guidance for first responders to limit their exposures, and require effluent limitations and pretreatment standards for PFAS introduction or discharge.

The legislation, which is supported by the White House, passed the House with support of nearly two dozen Republicans and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Trahan testified about the importance of getting the PFAS Action Act across the finish line and signed into law during an August hearing hosted by Massachusetts PFAS Interagency Task Force, chaired by State Representative Kate Hogan (D-3^rd Middlesex) and State Senator Julian Cyr (D-Cape and Islands).

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