Senate EPW Subcommittee hearings spotlight PFAS risks, trade-offs for essential uses

The Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee convened a hearing titled "Everyday Exposure: Examining PFAS Pollution and Its Impacts on Human Health," where scientists, toxicologists and an industry representative outlined both the health risks tied to PFAS and the practical trade-offs policymakers must weigh.

Senator Jeff Merkley, opening the hearing, framed PFAS as pervasive and durable: "In other words, it's impossible to avoid PFAS," he said, listing common sources from nonstick pans and food packaging to firefighting foam and biosolids. He noted EPA findings that some PFAS have "no safe level in drinking water" and cited studies linking PFAS to cancers, thyroid disease and developmental harms.

Dr. Laurel Shader, senior scientist at Silent Spring Institute, told the committee that PFAS are "in our water, our food, consumer products, even in the air and dust in our homes," and argued for comprehensive strategies to "identify and reduce exposures, support impacted communities, and ultimately eliminate unused unnecessary uses of these harmful chemicals." Shader noted the EPA's new drinking-water standards…