The US Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when it ordered Texas-based Inhance Technologies to stop making per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as by-products of the firm’s fluorination process, a federal appeals court ruled March 21. The decision allows Inhance to continue using fluorine gas to strengthen the barrier properties of containers made from high-density polyethylene, even though the process unintentionally creates small amounts of PFAS.
Environmental groups that sued Inhance in December 2022 for failing to notify the EPA that its process creates PFAS say they are disappointed with the court of appeals ruling. “This decision leaves the millions of Americans who are exposed to these containers without protection from several PFAS that EPA has determined present a serious threat to public health,” the groups Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Center for Environmental Health say in a joint statement.