SPAN Advocates for a Risk-Based Management Framework to Target the Highest-Risk PFAS in Commerce
To effectively manage PFAS compounds, EPA should prioritize regulating existing PFAS in commerce using a risk-based framework.
As scientists, industries, and policymakers collaborate to responsibly manage PFAS compounds, it is important to recognize that labeling a substance as PFAS does not necessarily mean it is harmful, or that its use should be restricted. Many independent experts agree that assuming all PFAS have the same hazard profile is inappropriate when assessing risks to human health and the environment.[1] The term PFAS only informs that a substance contains a certain combination of atoms in its structure. In efforts to ensure science-based decision-making, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is committed to implementing risk-based management under its PFAS Strategic Roadmap. Although the EPA Roadmap and the progress being made by EPA reflect positive steps, SPAN urges the EPA to enhance the program to prioritize regulatory actions and to focus on commercially active PFAS through a federal risk management framework.
What is Risk-Based Management?
Risk-based PFAS management calls for assessing both hazards and exposures under real-world conditions of use and taking actions to reduce human exposures and environmental releases of those PFAS presenting the greatest risks.
PFAS compounds have a widely diverse range of characteristics, and a multitude of uses in commercial and consumer use applications, not all of which present risks of equal concern. This calls for a management approach that is sustainable, swiftly minimizes risks that present the greatest concern, and recognizes that certain critical industry applications (from life-saving medicines and electronics manufacturing to automotive safety) need to continue while substitutes are being pursued for the PFAS of greater concern. A responsible and sustainable risk-based management framework should focus on carefully assessing and prioritizing for regulatory action the greatest sources of risks. This approach requires accepting as a starting principle that not all PFAS compounds and not all uses of PFAS present the same level of risk.
By prioritizing the compounds in active commerce of greatest concern, and the uses of these PFAS that generate the highest opportunities for human exposure and environmental releases, PFAS management strategies can be more effective and efficient, with the country’s limited regulatory resources directed accordingly. This approach necessitates developing an practical, federal risk-management framework.
Adopting a risk-based framework for categorizing commercially active PFAS would further advance key goals in effective PFAS management, including:
Identification of Higher-Risk Compounds: This approach allows regulators to identify a finite set of chemistries for federal and state agencies to address initially.
Effective Resource Allocation: EPA guidance will assist federal and state agencies in deploying limited resources through a targeted approach that avoids duplicative PFAS management programs.
Industry Clarity for Compliance: A risk-based approach gives industry certainty for planning and provides direction on which chemistries should be prioritized.
Rapid Search for Alternatives: Identifying high-risk compounds establishes a framework for alternatives research and incentivizes rapid regulatory approval processes.
Permit Essential Use Considerations: A risk-based management approach will prevent overly broad definitions of PFAS and broad-brush restrictions from inadvertently limiting uses of PFAS compounds in applications that serve critical functions in modern society, including PFAS uses that support enhanced human health environmental sustainability, such as in medical devices and energy conservation.
Many compounds may fall under the broadest definitions of PFAS, but they are not all persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) and do not share the same risk profiles. Managing PFAS compounds with a class-based approach requires making unsubstantiated assumptions and stifles the scientific innovation required to develop next-generation technologies and improve consumer and industrial products. The class-based approach ignores the scientifically established criteria which are essential for accurately defining risk. Rather, a federal PFAS program should prioritize compounds and their conditions of use based on their risk profiles, and should manage substances and uses responsibly. A risk-based approach will enable PFAS management that not only protects human health and the environment but also supports essential applications.
By focusing regulatory efforts on the highest-risk compounds and uses, the EPA can ensure that PFAS management remains effective, resource-efficient, and supportive of critical industries. The definition under TSCA Section 8(a)(7) is a significant step forward in establishing a practical framework for reporting commercially active PFAS, paving the way for future management practices to focus on compounds that pose the greater risks. This targeted, risk-based approach will protect human health and the environment while preserving the acceptable use of PFAS in applications essential to health, safety, security, comfort, and the critical technologies that are fundamental to today’s society.
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