Trump officials plan to repeal limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

The Trump administration has announced a plan to kill Biden-era drinking water limits on four Pfas “forever chemicals”, and to delay the implementation of standards for two other compounds. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing two separate rules to delay and rescind the limits. The rules must go through an approval process that can take several years, and almost certainly will be challenged in court. The Trump administration’s plan comes just two years after the US Environmental Protection Agency set legally enforceable drinking water limits for six of the most dangerous Pfas compounds that have been studied. The chemicals include some of the most toxic substances, and are linked to a range of cancers and other serious health problems. The new Trump plan aims to undo or delay those limits, which public health advocates say would put the nation’s health at risk. Pfas are ubiquitous in the environment and estimated to be contaminating drinking water for more than 200 million people across the US. At the Monday press conference, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced the new plan. “The Trump EPA is committed to Make America Healthy Again by ensuring clean air, land, and water – and by taking on Pfas the right way, across the full life cycle and built to last,” Zeldin said in a statement. PFAS are a class of at least 16,000 compounds most frequently used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant. …