For years, the Environmental Protection Agency assured the public that two of the most dangerous synthetic chemicals in American history had been phased out of domestic production — a claim that was not true. In September, the agency quietly revised its own website to acknowledge that PFOA, classified as carcinogenic to humans, may still be produced and imported across the country. At the center of this reckoning is a Houston manufacturer whose plastic container barriers reach into nearly every corner of the American economy, and a regulatory system that has repeatedly failed to stop them. The
EPA Admits Toxic PFAS Still Produced in US After Quietly Reversing 'Phase-Out' Claims
Widespread exposure to carcinogenic PFOA and PFOS through contaminated containers poses ongoing serious health threats including cancer, heart disease, liver and kidney disease across the US population.
If there's no safe level, why allow it to be manufactured?
Mark
So the EPA said these chemicals were phased out, but they weren't. How did that happen?
Mimi
The EPA reached an agreement with eight companies in 2015 to phase out PFOA and PFOS. But Inhance wasn't one of them, and the EPA kept allowing production to continue. Then the agency just told the public the chemicals were gone.
Luke
Wait—was it a ban or a phase-out? Those are different things.
Mimi
It was a phase-out, not a ban. The EPA never actually prohibited the chemicals. So technically Inhance could keep making them.
Mark
And the EPA's website said they were phased out anyway?
Mimi
Yes. For years it claimed the chemicals were no longer manufactured in the US. A nonprofit group filed a complaint pointing out this was false, and in September the EPA changed the wording.
Luke
What's the actual evidence that PFOA is leaching from these containers?
Mimi
Testing in 2020 found high levels of PFAS in pesticides stored in Inhance bins. The EPA's own subsequent testing confirmed PFOA was present in the containers.
Mark
And Inhance says what?
Mimi
They say any PFOA is just an impurity, not a manufacturing byproduct. They also say they've reduced it by 90 percent.
Luke
Has the EPA been able to stop them from making these containers?
Mimi
No. The EPA ordered them to cease production twice—in 2022 and 2023. A federal appeals court overturned the 2023 ban. A lawsuit by the environmental group was dismissed because the judge said they lacked standing.
Mark
So Inhance is still making these containers?
Mimi
As far as the reporting shows, yes. The EPA appears to have given up on enforcement.
Luke
And how many containers are we talking about?
Mimi
Up to 200 million barriers annually. These are used in containers across the US economy.
Mark
What does the science say about the risk?
Mimi
The International Agency for Research on Cancer says PFOA is carcinogenic to humans. An epidemiological panel found PFOA and PFOS are likely causes of cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. The EPA's own science says there's virtually no safe level of exposure in drinking water.
Il Polso
- The EPA spent years publishing a false assurance — that PFOA and PFOS were no longer made in the US — while a Houston company was producing up to 200 million PFOA-leaching containers annually.
- A nonprofit's formal complaint forced the agency to quietly reword its website, an admission of error that carries no enforcement weight and stops no chemical from reaching consumers.
- Every attempt to halt Inhance's production has collapsed: a 2022 cease order was ignored, a 2023 order was overturned in federal court, and a subsequent environmental lawsuit was dismissed on standing grounds.
- Scientists who helped expose PFAS dangers in landmark DuPont litigation warn that PFOA and PFOS are linked to cancer, heart disease, and organ failure — and that no level of exposure has been found safe.
- The EPA has gone silent, issuing no response to press inquiries and appearing to have abandoned active enforcement, even as it now concedes the chemicals it claimed were gone are still being made.
- Advocates argue the entire framework of voluntary phase-outs has failed and that only a full legal ban on chemicals with no safe exposure threshold can close the gap between regulatory promise and public protection.
For years, the Environmental Protection Agency assured the public that two of the most dangerous synthetic chemicals in American history had been phased out of domestic production — a claim that was not true. In September, the agency quietly revised its own website to acknowledge that PFOA, classified as carcinogenic to humans, may still be produced and imported across the country. At the center of this reckoning is a Houston manufacturer whose plastic container barriers reach into nearly every corner of the American economy, and a regulatory system that has repeatedly failed to stop them. The gap between what institutions declare and what they enforce is rarely without consequence.
The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly walked back one of its most consequential public assurances: that PFOA and PFOS, two of the most dangerous chemicals ever manufactured in America, were no longer being produced domestically. In September, the agency revised its website to acknowledge that PFOA may still be produced, imported, and used — a change that came only after a nonprofit environmental group filed a formal complaint. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies PFOA as carcinogenic to humans. The EPA's own science holds that virtually no level of exposure in drinking water is safe.
The company at the center of this story is Inhance, a Houston-based manufacturer that produces up to 200 million plastic container barriers each year. These thin linings are used throughout the American economy — in food packaging, pesticide containers, and more. Repeated testing has found that PFOA leaches from these barriers into whatever they hold. Inhance has called the chemical a mere impurity and notes it was never party to the 2015 voluntary phase-out agreement that the EPA had been citing as evidence the problem was solved.
The regulatory battle stretches back to 2020, when scientists discovered high PFAS levels in pesticides stored in Inhance containers. The EPA investigated, found widespread contamination, and ordered the company to stop production in 2022. Inhance issued a press release disputing the findings and kept manufacturing. A second cease order in late 2023 was overturned by a federal appeals court. A subsequent environmental lawsuit was dismissed when a judge ruled the nonprofit lacked legal standing.
Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist now leading science policy for the nonprofit, described the containers as an ongoing serious threat to public health. She pointed to epidemiological findings from landmark DuPont litigation that linked PFOA and PFOS to cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. Inhance, for its part, says it has reduced PFOA impurities by 90 percent and that independent risk assessments show no unreasonable exposure risk. The EPA declined to comment.
What remains unresolved is whether the agency's admission of error will translate into any meaningful regulatory action, or whether these chemicals will continue moving through American supply chains beneath the threshold of public attention. Bennett's question cuts to the core of the impasse: if there is no safe level of a chemical, why is its manufacture still permitted at all?
The Environmental Protection Agency has spent years telling the public that two of the most dangerous chemicals ever produced in America—PFOA and PFOS—were no longer being manufactured here. That claim was false, and the agency has now quietly admitted it.
In September, the EPA changed the wording on its website. Where it once stated flatly that "the manufacture and import of PFOA has also been phased out in the United States," it now reads: "Quantities of PFOA may be produced, imported, and used by companies." The shift came after a nonprofit environmental group filed a formal complaint pointing out that the agency was allowing PFOA production to continue while claiming it had stopped. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies PFOA as carcinogenic to humans and PFOS as possibly carcinogenic. The EPA's own science has found that virtually no level of exposure to either chemical in drinking water is safe.
The company still making these chemicals is Inhance, a Houston-based manufacturer that produces up to 200 million plastic container barriers annually—the thin layers that line containers used throughout the American economy. Testing has repeatedly found that PFOA leaches from these barriers into whatever the containers hold, whether food, pesticides, or drinking water. Inhance has denied the chemical escapes in measurable amounts, calling any PFOA in its products merely an "impurity." The company also notes it was never one of the eight manufacturers that agreed to the original phase-out in 2015, and that no formal ban was ever enacted.
The history of this dispute stretches back six years. In late 2020, scientists working for the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility discovered high levels of PFAS in pesticides stored in Inhance containers. The EPA launched an investigation and found widespread contamination across the company's product line. In March 2022, the agency ordered Inhance to immediately cease production. Two weeks later, Inhance issued a press release saying its products did not contain PFOA and kept manufacturing anyway. When the EPA tested again and found PFOA still present, it issued another cease order in December 2023. A federal appeals court overturned that ban. A subsequent lawsuit by the environmental group was dismissed because a judge ruled the organization lacked legal standing to sue.
Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist now serving as science policy director for the nonprofit, described the containers as presenting an "ongoing serious threat to public health." An epidemiological panel convened during landmark litigation against DuPont in the early 2000s—litigation that exposed the dangers of PFAS pollution in West Virginia—found that PFOA and PFOS were likely causes of cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. Those findings formed the scientific basis for the 2015 phase-out agreement. Bennett told the Guardian that the EPA's reversal on its website, while welcome as an admission of fact, does nothing to stop the actual flow of toxic chemicals. "If you have a chemical and there's no safe level of it, then why on earth would you allow it to be manufactured?" she said.
Inhance has stated that it made adjustments to reduce PFOA impurities by 90 percent, and that third-party risk assessments conclude exposure does not present unreasonable risk. The company's chief commercial officer, Patricia van Ee, wrote that the firm has shared its process data with the EPA throughout the review. The EPA did not respond to requests for comment. The agency appears to have abandoned enforcement efforts against Inhance, even as it now acknowledges that PFOA and PFOS remain in production. Bennett argues that phase-outs have proven inadequate and that the EPA must move toward full bans on chemicals with no safe exposure threshold. The question now is whether the agency's admission of error will prompt any actual change in how it regulates these compounds, or whether the containers will continue flowing through American supply chains.
Citazioni salienti
If you have a chemical and there's no safe level of it, then why on earth would you allow it to be manufactured?— Kyla Bennett, former EPA scientist and science policy director at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Published peer-reviewed third-party risk assessments conclude that estimated exposure does not present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.— Patricia van Ee, chief commercial officer of Inhance
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