PFAS regulations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations are a suggested strategy to reduce or eliminate the introduction of more and new PFAS into the environment, to reduce humans’ and other living organisms’ exposure to PFAS, and to avoid increasing PFAS disposal and contamination challenges (Cousins 2020, Cousins 2022, Stoiber 2020, Kwiatkowski 2020). PFAS as a group include thousands of chemicals with varying effects and toxicity, and many PFAS have not yet been studied (US EPA-PFAS Explained). Additional evidence is needed to confirm the long-term effects of regulations, since PFAS are forever chemicals that continue to cycle in the environment and remediation may not be possible or may be extremely costly.

Recommendations. Experts recommend rapidly restricting non-essential use of PFAS (Cousins 2020, Cousins 2022, Stoiber 2020, Kwiatkowski 2020) and using fluorine-free alternatives whenever possible (Brunn 2023). Definitions for essential uses of PFAS are not yet determined; however, a multi-country survey finds some agreement that chemical uses are more essential than recreation, household, and personal care uses (Karinen 2024). Existing U.S. bans on persistent pollutants such as the pesticide DDT and PCB chemicals could inform PFAS regulations (US EPA-DDT, NOAA-PCBs). Preventing PFAS contamination in water sources is recommended, rather than relying on drinking water treatments or filters at the point of use (Herkert 2020). Proactively limiting PFAS discharges into air, water, and soil could help countries address growing problems with disposal and contamination (Stoiber 2020) and help protect wildlife from increased chemical pollution, advancing global conservation efforts (Andrews 2023). Rain and soil everywhere in the world contain PFAS – often at levels exceeding safe guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the European Union, and other countries. Water cycles continuously through the environment and so PFAS' presence is extremely difficult to reverse (Cousins 2022). For this reason, some experts assert that PFAS in the environment have exceeded a planetary boundary for chemical pollution on Earth (Cousins 2022), meaning the limits which keep Earth as a stable and resilient system to support human life (Richardson 2023).

As PFAS affect the entire planet, experts recommend that governing bodies choose a shared operating definition for PFAS accepted by the scientific community (Pivato 2024) and that research and regulation involve international cooperation (DeWitt 2024). Countries and governments can adopt a precautionary chemicals management strategy, since scientists cannot analyze the many chemicals being produced and released fast enough to identify all that are potentially harmful (Cousins 2022). PFAS travel globally from sources via water and air, so local regulations may not be adequate (Faust 2023). Foods shipped worldwide also contain PFAS, such as fish from contaminated waterbodies, and foods grown in fertilizer from biosolids and any stored in lined containers (Pozzebon 2023, Johnson 2022b, Venkatesan 2013, Hoang 2022, US EPA-PFAS Explained). Some experts advise regulating PFAS as one chemical class, on the basis that PFAS are highly persistent (Cousins 2020), have the potential to accumulate, and are known to be or are potentially hazardous (Kwiatkowski 2020). Regulations could require producers to release information on chemical structures and analysis being used in new PFAS (De Silva 2021). Such regulation could help hold industries responsible for use of all PFAS, not only a few (Kwiatkowski 2020) and encourage identification of PFAS that might be the safest for use (ITRC-PFAS Guidance 2023).

Regulations should consider waste streams (e.g., plastic, metals, textile and leather, paper and cardboards), as some products contain and will release more PFAS than others; textile waste often exceeds limits (Pivato 2024). Collecting food waste separately from other municipal solid waste prevents further contamination from materials containing PFAS and can reduce PFAS cycling via food waste compost (Timshina 2024). Regulations can also mandate industries’ use of ‘green chemistry’ principles such as making chemical products that break down without harm and do not persist in the environment – this is also called ‘design for degradation’ (Cousins 2020).

PFAS and health: Overall effects. There is strong evidence that PFAS negatively affect human health outcomes. PFAS exposure can lead to negative reproductive health effects, including decreased fertility, and increased high blood pressure in pregnant individuals (US EPA-PFAS Explained). PFAS exposure can increase risk of cancer, such as prostate, kidney, and testicular cancer; reduce ability of the immune system to fight infection and to respond helpfully to vaccines (US DHHS NTP-Immunotoxicity 2016); interfere with natural hormones in the body; and increase cholesterol and obesity risk (US EPA-PFAS Explained, Rappazzo 2017). PFAS accumulate in body tissues and are detected in the blood of most individuals in developed countries (Costello 2022, Fenton 2021). PFAS appear to alter humans’ immune function, reducing resistance to infectious disease and increasing incidence of autoimmune disease (US DHHS NTP-Immunotoxicity 2016). PFAS appear to disrupt the body’s endocrine system and damage the liver (Costello 2022, Fenton 2021) and reduce fetal growth (Bach 2015).

PFAS and health: Effects among children. In children, PFAS exposure can lead to low birth weight, developmental effects and delays, accelerated puberty, and behavioral changes (US EPA-PFAS Explained, Rappazzo 2017). PFAS are associated with further negative health effects in children that include metabolic disorders, immune response that includes suppressed antibody response (the response which makes vaccines effective), asthma, altered kidney function, and delayed onset of puberty, according to studies from a range of countries including the U.S. (Rappazzo 2017). Delayed onset puberty can suggest endocrine disruption and may affect children’s risk of disease in adulthood (Rappazzo 2017). More research is needed to understand the health effects of exposure to low levels of PFAS over longer periods of time, particularly for children, as well as varying exposure by occupation (US EPA-PFAS Explained) and varying response to exposure among different sexes, species, and at different life stages (Fenton 2021). More research is also needed into the health effects of PFAS as mixtures of many chemical compounds, reflecting how humans and organisms are usually exposed, rather than research focusing on individual compounds (Rappazzo 2017).

General population exposure. Most U.S. residents have been exposed to PFAS. Known exposure is often low but being exposed to one source over a longer time can increase people’s PFAS levels. PFAS build up in humans and other organisms over time (US EPA-PFAS Explained). There is no known medication or treatment to reduce PFAS after exposure (US DHHS ATSDR-PFAS Clinicians 2024). Health care providers may be able to do a blood test for PFAS levels, but current blood testing alone does not inform treatment or predict health effects. Providers can discuss an individual’s unique health factors, disease risk, and exposure history, including the duration, magnitude, and routes of potential exposure (such as a water supply, food, or occupational exposure), and whether reducing future exposure is possible (US DHHS ATSDR-PFAS Clinicians 2024).

Groups with increased exposure and risk. Some people have higher occupational exposures, such as those working in firefighting, manufacturing or processing chemicals and products containing PFAS (US EPA-PFAS Explained), and ski wax technicians (CDC NIOSH-PFAS). Pregnant and lactating women may have higher exposure through increased water intake. Children have increased exposure because they drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air, per pound of body weight, compared to adults; young children who crawl or put things in their mouths may have increased exposure to PFAS in household items and dust; and infants are exposed to PFAS in formula and breast milk (US EPA-PFAS Explained, Hoadley 2023). In utero exposure appears possible, through placental exposure, though more research is needed on the effects (US EPA-PFAS Explained, Costello 2022). As of 2024, according to the U.S. EPA, the benefits of breastfeeding appear to outweigh the risks (US EPA-PFAS Explained).

PFAS and non-human organisms. Many studies indicate that PFAS negatively affect humans as well as other living organisms, often in similar ways (Andrews 2023). The negative effects humans experience from PFAS may signal serious risks for wildlife – especially endangered and threatened species who face multiple human-caused threats (Andrews 2023). PFAS can be harmful to aquatic fauna, amphibians, and insects, even in small amounts (Brunn 2023). PFAS also build up, or bioaccumulate, in organisms’ tissues (Brunn 2023), including in plants (Brennan 2021). Fish can have especially high contamination from bioaccumulation in their tissues and organs (Brunn 2023). Those at the tops of food webs, including humans, contain the most PFAS and other persistent chemicals because they consume other species – this is known as biomagnification (Brunn 2023). Some persistent chemicals have been banned for decades but are still contributing to population declines; for example, killer whale populations could decrease by 50% in the next 100 years due to human-made persistent chemicals PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and their effects on the animals’ reproductive and immune systems (Desforges 2018). PFAS travel around the world on air particles (Faust 2023) and are present throughout the oceans, including in deep water, and are transported in a feedback loop via ocean currents. PFAS phased out of production are still being released from the Arctic back into the North Atlantic (Dunn 2024).

Challenges. Experts caution that removing PFAS from contaminated land and drinking water is technically challenging, energy-intensive, and costly (Cousins 2020, Li 2020, Ateia 2019) and in some cases impossible (Kwiatkowski 2020). Countries including the U.S. face challenges determining appropriate regulatory authorities and in providing adequate funding for monitoring and remediation (Brennan 2021). The U.S. EPA identifies three large-scale technologies for destruction and disposal of PFAS and PFAS-containing material: thermal destruction, landfills, and underground injection – but effectiveness is uncertain for all three types (US EPA-PFAS Interim Guidance 2024). Processes to break down products containing PFAS, such as incineration, do not totally remove it (Brunn 2023). Most water treatments do not remove PFAS from drinking water (Rahman 2014). Those that appear most effective (US EPA-TDB PFAS) can be expensive and some create residual waste that must also be disposed (Li 2020). Disposal of waste containing PFAS creates a contamination cycle: Landfills with products containing PFAS leach PFAS into the surrounding soil, ground, and surface water; wastewater treatment can transform PFAS and increase its concentration; and incineration can release toxic air pollution and greenhouse gases (Stoiber 2020). Although some PFAS are no longer in large-scale production, even these will take many more decades to reduce below safe thresholds in the environment – and companies still manufacture thousands of other PFAS (Cousins 2022).

In response to regulations for PFAS known to be hazardous, manufacturers often substitute other PFAS with unknown toxicity (Brunn 2023, Kwiatkowski 2020). Analytical methods currently cover only around 50 PFAS, but as the effects of more PFAS are understood, many countries continue to lower the thresholds for safe exposure (DeWitt 2024). Studying PFAS is technically challenging because the laboratory tools used for sampling contain PFAS, and consumer products brought to testing sites can contaminate the samples (Brennan 2021). Long-chain PFAS have been used longer and are more studied and regulated (e.g., PFOA and PFOS); newer short-chain PFAS are often produced in response to regulation (Ateia 2019, Rahman 2014) and appear to be less bioaccumulative, but move more easily through aquatic systems and soil (Brendel 2018) and are still very persistent (Li 2020). New technology to test for and analyze PFAS in air, water, and in living and non-living parts of ecosystems is leading to the identification of new PFAS (Nakayama 2019). There is currently no official list of all PFAS compounds in use (Brennan 2021). In the U.S., chemical and product manufacturers are not required to disclose when they sell, make, or use PFAS because the formulations may be proprietary and covered by trade secrecy laws (ITRC-PFAS Guidance 2023).

Costs. The profits companies make from producing PFAS are billions of dollars less than the estimated costs for remediation and health care related to PFAS exposure (ChemSec-PFAS). The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency estimates that while PFAS can be purchased for $50-$1,000 per pound, it costs between $2.7 million and $18 million USD per pound to remove and destroy PFAS from municipal wastewater – an unaffordable cost for the facilities. The cost to remove and destroy PFAS in some wastewater streams in Minnesota alone could cost between $14 and $28 billion USD over 20 years (MPA-Municipal PFAS 2023). A report by the Nordic Council of Ministers estimates the direct health care costs in Europe to be €52-85 billion per year (NCM-Goldenman 2019). The cost to remove and destroy the total PFAS released annually into the environment is estimated to exceed the global GDP of $106 trillion USD (Ling 2024).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations are a suggested strategy to reduce disparities in negative health outcomes and in environmental contamination experienced by communities with less wealth and racially and ethnically minoritized communities (Woodruff 2023). Humans are widely exposed to chemical pollution but such communities experience disproportionately high exposure (Woodruff 2023). Indigenous peoples may also have higher exposure via multiple factors (Hoover 2012, Ford 2020). Multiple authorities, including the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have called for better hazard and risk assessment related to population-level chemical exposure (Woodruff 2023).

Disposal of waste containing PFAS can create environmental contamination, such as near landfills and incinerators. In the U.S., hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities are more often located in communities with more racially and ethnically minoritized individuals and higher poverty rates (Stoiber 2020). A study of drinking water quality in multiple U.S. states suggests that watersheds with community water systems serving a higher proportion of Latina/o and Black residents are more likely to contain PFAS sources, such as an industrial facility, military fire training area, or civilian airport (Liddie 2023). Such watersheds have even greater likelihood of containing a waste sector PFAS source, such as wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge or a landfill (Liddie 2023). A pilot study of PFAS in soil near a hazardous waste incinerator suggests that individuals with lower incomes and those with less education are at higher risk of exposure (Martin 2023).

A California-based study of pesticide application suggests pesticides containing PFAS were more likely to be applied near community water supplies serving communities with lower incomes and racially and ethnically minoritized communities (Libenson 2024). More and complete data on sources of PFAS contamination and exposure in rural areas is also needed, as rural agricultural communities rely on groundwater and practices like pesticide application pose a range of risks (Libenson 2024). This poses an increased risk for rural residents who rely on private wells for drinking water, which are often shallow; unlike municipal water supplies, private wells serving fewer than 25 people are not regulated under the U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act that ensures drinking water meets health-based standards (S 433).

Indigenous peoples appear to have higher exposure to PFAS compared to non-Indigenous populations, via multiple pathways. In North America, Native and First Nations and tribally affiliated people experience land dispossession, resettlement, and landscape fragmentation, as well as disproportionately high exposure to environmental hazards, and inadequate mitigation (Hoover 2012, Ford 2020). These Nations and Indigenous peoples also maintain livelihood or subsistence practices that include hunting, fishing, and foraging, as well as other spiritual and cultural practices, which may increase their exposure to environmental contaminants (Hoover 2012, Ford 2020). Indigenous peoples in the Arctic (including Alaska, Canada, and Greenland) may be highly exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PFAS, mainly through traditional diets. Arctic plant and animal species are highly exposed because the regions are hemispheric sinks, meaning persistent pollutants are carried there on ocean and wind currents (Byrne 2022). Biomagnification also means that POPs are highly concentrated at the top of Arctic food webs, especially in marine mammals (Byrne 2022). Inuit in East Greenland who consume traditional marine diets have the highest PFAS blood serum concentrations in the Arctic and in any non-occupationally exposed population worldwide (Sonne 2023). More research is needed to understand exposure to POPs and to interpret PFAS blood serum levels and potential health risks (Byrne 2022).

Recommendations. Precautionary management strategies for chemicals emphasize the importance of acting quickly on scientific findings, noting that slow regulation when risks were known, contributed to serious health consequences from lead, asbestos, and radiation (Woodruff 2023). Failing to include individuals from affected communities in discussion and decision-making can exacerbate and prolong negative outcomes (Suffill 2024). Organizers from communities impacted by chemical pollution exposure do collaborate with public health researchers and environmental health scientists to bring attention to exposures and influence policy change (Woodruff 2023). Indigenous peoples are also involved in environmental monitoring, policy advocacy, and resistance, though greater and intentional engagement in decision-making is needed (Fernandez-Llamazares 2020). Communities often marginalized should have input into essential use decisions for PFAS (Suffill 2024). Regulations, such as on fish consumption, must consider the availability, affordability, quality, and cultural relevance of additional or alternative food sources (Dellinger 2022, Dellinger 2023, PBS-WW Fish advisories). Experts recommend that those organizing research and regulation meetings increase representation from lower- and middle-income countries and that more research be funded and conducted on PFAS’ presence in these countries (DeWitt 2024).

Disproportionate Costs. A lack of PFAS regulation and resulting contamination can have disproportionate negative social and economic effects on communities, particularly communities with fewer resources, including some rural communities and geographically remote Arctic communities. Some communities suffer disproportionately from reduced availability of housing with safe water sources, from economic damages to agricultural industries (e.g., when PFAS are detected in water consumed by farm animals, it can reduce milk sales), and from high levels of occupational PFAS exposure while being economically reliant on the companies responsible for PFAS contamination (ITRC-PFAS Guidance 2023). Economic and cultural costs may differ among populations; for example, tribal lands may be close to industrial sources of PFAS, in regions dependent on limited water sources like the Southwestern U.S., and tribes may have smaller environmental offices and budgets than can reasonably assess PFAS (ITRC-PFAS Guidance 2023).

Chemical pollution threatens the Earth’s ecosystems, food security, and human health and reproduction. Chemicals of concern, including PFAS, are associated in humans with serious disease and disorders which continue to increase in prevalence (Woodruff 2023). Some persistent pollutants have been banned in the U.S. due to their negative effects, such as the pesticide DDT in 1972 (US EPA-DDT) and PCB chemicals in 1979 (NOAA-PCBs). However, companies still produce millions of pounds of industrial chemicals for widespread use each year, including in the U.S., and use is increasing annually around the world (Woodruff 2023). Environmental hazards are more likely to be sited near communities which are marginalized, who may have less political power, less access to information and resources, and who may not be engaged in siting decisions (Liddie 2023). Redlining and historic segregation practices in the U.S. also determined where racially and ethnically minoritized communities, and sources of industrial pollution, are located (Liddie 2023).

PFAS as a group contains over 9,000 synthetic chemicals used worldwide in industry and consumer products (CDC NIOSH-PFAS), beginning in the 1940s (ITRC-PFAS History 2020). Methods to test for PFAS were not widely available until the early 2000s, when PFAS began to be widely documented in environmental samples; since then, more sensitive analytical methods have shown PFAS are present around the world (ITRC-PFAS History 2020). Some industrial self-regulation followed: companies 3M and DuPont voluntarily ended production of PFOS and PFOA in the early 2000s (Brennan 2021). The U.S. EPA finalized a rule designating PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances in April 2024 (US EPA-Actions to address PFAS). However, both companies knew about the health effects in the 1960s and in the following decades strategically suppressed research and worked to distort public discourse. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) became law in 1976, but under the Nixon administration was shaped by the chemical industry to restrict chemical testing and data collection and ensure the burden-of-proof is regulators’ responsibility (Richter 2021, Gaber 2023). Governmental decision-makers were aware of risks as early as 2006 (US EPA-PFOA Facts 2015) with the health effects publicly established in 2011 (Richter 2021). Companies like 3M, Dupont, and Chemours are facing thousands of lawsuits (Richter 2021). Some tribes, such as the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, have filed lawsuits against 3M and other companies, for PFAS contamination present in its water and fish (MPR-Kraker 2023). Some experts assert that government knowledge combined with the failure to regulate harmful activities, or to create a legal environment that allows for harm to occur or continue, constitute state-facilitated corporate crime, i.e. shared responsibility between companies and governments (LeMonde-Horel 2023).

Regulation approaches. The U.S. requires chemical-specific data for national regulation – but political will has historically been weak as PFAS’ utility and benefit are well-recognized, and the potential harms of the thousands of compounds on the global market is not feasible to demonstrate (Brennan 2021). The U.S. has been slower than some other countries to regulate PFAS at the federal level, so some states and local governments have regulated PFAS and other chemicals or chemical classes locally (Brennan 2021, Woodruff 2023). Some states have pre-emptions in place that prohibit setting more restrictive regulations than those at the federal level (Brennan 2021). Environmental chemicals in the U.S. are governed by multiple laws, and overseen by multiple agencies, further contributing to patchwork regulation (Woodruff 2023). Most U.S. laws require the federal government to identify and request data from the industry and to evaluate potential chemical toxicity (Woodruff 2023).

In contrast, the European Union requires chemical manufacturers and importers to demonstrate to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that chemical substances can be safely used (ECHA-REACH). Since 2007, companies have been required to generate data on potential chemical exposure and toxicity, to use this data to develop and apply appropriate risk management measures, to communicate these measures to users, and to submit this information to the ECHA for decision-making. This regulation is called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) (Woodruff 2023, ECHA-REACH). Compared with the U.S., the EU and Canada have stronger regulations to reduce and control PFAS production and use (Brennan 2021).

The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty adopted in 2001 to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include PFAS (UNEP-Stockholm Overview, UNEP-Stockholm PFAS). The treaty requires parties to adopt control measures, eliminate release of POPs where feasible, and in some cases, prohibit or restrict production and use, and aims to ensure waste and stockpiles containing POPs are well-managed (UNEP-Stockholm Overview). The U.S. signed the treaty in 2001 but has not ratified it (US DS-Stockholm).

Some nations and groups have begun passing laws and signing treaties giving legal personhood to bodies of water and species such as whales, to protect them because of their environmental and cultural importance (Magallanes 2018, ABC-Smith 2024).

• Who in your region, state, or community experiences disproportionate exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals, including PFAS? Where are companies who produce (or historically produced) PFAS or PFAS-containing products located? Where are sites located with current or historic heavy use of PFAS-containing products, such as airports, paper mills, firefighting or military fire training sites, etc.?
• What local watersheds contain PFAS sources, such as wastewater treatment plants, landfills, or other industrial sites where PFAS are used? Who relies on these watersheds for drinking water and other ecosystem services? How many rural residents rely on private wells for drinking water and live near agricultural fields, contamination sites or waterways in your watershed area, putting them at increased risk of exposure?
• How is your community testing and monitoring water, soil, air quality, and measuring ecosystem health? How are findings communicated when potentially harmful PFAS levels are identified?
• How do your state or local regulations compare with federal regulations or recommended safe standards?

As of April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced bill HR 8074, the Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act, which would phase out production of non-essential PFAS over ten years and prohibit release of PFAS. Essential use would need to be proven and accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Companies which use or manufacture PFAS would also be required to report their use of PFAS designated ‘essential’ (HR 8074). Non-profits such as ChemSec track which global companies produce PFAS, help companies review their supply chains, and connect companies who want to use safer chemical alternatives with suppliers (ChemSec-PFAS). The EPA has developed a PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which recommends preventing PFAS from entering the environment, to reduce exposure and risks of future contamination and ensuring that disadvantaged communities have equitable access to solutions (US EPA-PFAS Roadmap 2021-2024).

Addressing PFAS exposure and contamination in the U.S. involves work and coordination by many federal agencies. This work includes measuring and monitoring PFAS exposure in humans and in other living organisms, such as marine species; measuring PFAS in farm animals and some food products; site investigations, cleanup procedures, and local restrictions on PFAS-containing products, such as firefighting foams containing PFAS; and provision of fluorine-free alternatives. The EPA details the many industries and product manufacturing processes where PFAS are used, and the emission types produced, in its interim guidance on destruction and disposal (US EPA-PFAS Interim Guidance 2024). As PFOA and PFOS are designated hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund), they are subject to tracking and release reporting under the Community Right-to-Know Act (RCRA) and Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Compliance with CERCLA includes mandatory reporting to the National Response Center after spills or unplanned releases, and failure to report can result in large fines (US EPA-PFAS CERCLA 2024).

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates more than $10 billion USD to be distributed via the EPA, the Department of Defense (DoD), and Centers for Disease Control Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC ATSDR) to address emerging contaminants and to study exposures and health risks from PFAS in drinking water in communities near former and current military bases (US EPA-PFAS Press 2024). The EPA also set a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for six PFAS in drinking water – these levels are legally enforceable under the Safe Drinking Water Act (US EPA-Drinking Water Regulation, US EPA-PFAS). Multiple agencies are also studying PFAS exposure and impacts, detection and remediation technology; developing occupational health training; and providing communication and guidance (US EPA-PFAS Press 2024). PFAS blood testing programs can be useful to monitor exposed populations over time and to compare with those with less exposure, but there is currently no correlation between a specific level and any health outcome (ITRC-PFAS Guidance 2023).

Some U.S. states are enacting or considering laws restricting PFAS in firefighting foam; regulating PFAS amounts in drinking water, food packaging and consumer products; and allocating funds for cleanup and remediation (NCSL-PFAS 2023). As of 2024, Maine and Minnesota have enacted the most comprehensive laws (NCSL-PFAS 2023). Community-based organizations are also engaged in scientific, educational, and advocacy efforts around chemical pollution, such as Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) (ACAT). Anishinnaabe community members and Midwestern partners developed the Gigiigoo’inaan App (ITCM-Our Fish App), to support safe fish consumption and preserve culturally significant traditions (ITCM-Our Fish App, Dellinger 2022). As of 2020, a Tribal PFAS Working Group including representatives from Tribal councils on water, science, toxics, waste response, and pesticide programs supports PFAS remediation (NTWC-PFAS Group). The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) is a working group of the Artic Council, the intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation in the Arctic. AMAP monitors and assesses the impacts of pollutants on the environment and health and informs implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals (POPs) (AMAP). Its work suggests that declining air concentrations of certain POPs may be increasing again as climate change melts ice caps (AMAP-POPs Iceland).

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