A recent study completed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that toxic PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances may leach from the inside coating of shipping containers into the products they contain.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) first alerted the agency to this contamination back in 2020, and now urges the EPA and other regulatory authorities to take immediate action to stop using these containers for product transportation across the country and world.
The study showed that even purified water in these containers caused PFAS to leach into the water and no corrosive solvents were necessary to do so. After just one day, the water had 103 parts-per-trillion (ppt) of PFAS from the barrels. After 20 weeks, the amount rose to 2,888 ppt.
