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The Trump administration is delaying the publication of a report about a harmful “forever chemical” known as perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA, discovered in 28 states’ tap water.
The news was first reported by ProPublica in early October, a few weeks after the Union of Concerned Scientists posted about the unpublished report by experts within the Environmental Protection Agency, calling it “yet another attack on [scientific integrity] and our health.”
ProPublica found that the final PFNA report has been finalized and ready to publish since April, although the EPA told ProPublica that it is not yet final.
PFNA is a type of PFAS, which are also referred to as “forever chemicals.” These chemicals are man-made and “don’t behave like your usual organic pollutants that we know how to treat and what to expect from them,” said Carla Ng, an associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Research shows that PFAS, like the PFNA recently found in tap water, directly harm our health, causing reproductive issues, neurodevelopment problems, and, in some cases, are linked to cancer.
PFAS are found in drinking water, which was the focal point of this PFNA research, but are also in nonstick cookware, cleaning products, water-resistant jackets and tents, seafood, firefighting foam, food packaging, stain-resistant fabrics, makeup and more.
In the unpublished report, “there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that PFNA exposure, over time, can lead to developmental harms like reduced birth weight in babies, as well as hepatic or liver harms,” said Darya Minovi, a senior analyst in the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
According to ProPublica, the assessment also found that PFNA specifically is bad for male reproductive systems, “including reductions in testosterone levels, sperm production and the size of reproductive organs.”
Since ProPublica broke the news of the PFNA report delay, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) has urged the EPA to share why the report has not yet been released, but there has been no update from the agency.
In a statement to HuffPost, an EPA spokesperson said that “the Trump EPA is committed to addressing PFAS to ensure that Americans have the cleanest air, land and water, carrying out our core mission of protecting human health and the environment. EPA’s progress on PFAS started under the first Trump administration, and that historic work is continuing today.”
Illustration: Kelly Caminero/HuffPost; Photo: Getty Images
Approximately 25 million people in the U.S. have PFNA in their water that exceeds EPA guidelines, according to data from the Environmental Working Group. When considering forever chemicals, overall, and not just PFNA specifically, 158 million people have a measurable amount of PFAS in their water — and 73 million people have an amount that exceeds EPA forever chemical limits, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Let’s face it, a lot of people think, ‘Oh, water contamination is a problem in Flint [Michigan] or in some remote community someplace, but not where I’m from,’” said Erik D. Olson, the senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Unfortunately, what the forever chemicals crisis is showing us … is that this is not just a problem in Flint and a few other cities. This is a widespread contamination issue that we really need to deal with,” Olson added.
While this is a widespread issue in many communities throughout the country, Black communities and Hispanic communities are hardest hit. Research shows that these groups are more likely to be exposed to PFAS in drinking water.
The unpublished research goes against a Trump administration plan to roll back limits on PFAS in drinking water.
In the last few years, the Biden administration took steps to regulate PFAS pollution and develop drinking water limits for some of the PFAS found in tap water, Minovi said.
Under the Trump administration, though, the EPA has reversed some of these protections and moved to weaken these PFAS regulations, allowing more forever chemicals to infiltrate tap water.
“They announced to revoke four of the six PFAS standards that EPA issued under the Biden administration,” Olson said. This includes regulations on PFNA, he added.
This change may be because of pressure from chemical companies. In December 2024, a number of chemical manufacturers and industrial manufacturers sent the incoming Trump administration essentially a “wish list of deregulation,” Minovi said, adding that the manufacturers “specifically say in the letter” that they’re asking the administration to pause the PFAS rules.
Experts say it’s also part of an attack on the Integrated Risk Information System Program at the EPA.
There has also been a long-standing effort to dismantle the work done by the Integrated Risk Information System Program (IRIS) at the EPA, which is the group that conducts thorough analyses on the health effects of exposure to specific chemicals, Monovi explained. And the IRIS risk assessment of PFNA is what’s currently delayed by the EPA.
Republicans have introduced legislation to limit the power of IRIS, and as with many federal agencies this year, layoffs and firings have cut many jobs within the program.
IRIS assessments take years and involve peer review and public comment, with an end plan to help inform regulation, Minovi said. In other words, these reports are lengthy and deeply investigated before they draw any conclusions.
Experts say this is all part of the Trump admin’s MO — burying research that doesn’t align with its political plans.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has buried scientific research. Earlier this year, Vox first reported that the Department of Health and Human Services chose not to publish a federal study on the harms of consuming alcohol that was intended to inform the new dietary guidelines.
And during the first Trump administration, “there was a report that was done by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry … that had found that several PFAS were much more dangerous than the EPA had previously estimated, and there was … a leaked email from the White House, the Trump White House at the time, that said this is potentially a public relations disaster, we shouldn’t let this thing out,” according to Olson.
It’s customary for the Trump administration to “downplay the risks and to try to put the kibosh on any new science that demonstrates how dangerous these chemicals are,” Olson added.
In a statement to HuffPost, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said, “President Trump and Administrator [of the EPA] Zeldin are working in lockstep to remove harmful toxins from the environment. The Trump administration has made it clear that PFAS chemicals are harmful to human health and that further research on the danger of PFAS is critical to ensure we are Making America Healthy Again. Contrary to the lies peddled by far-left, Climate activists, the facts remain: US water quality is among the best of industrialized countries and our framework for environmental protection remains the gold standard across the world.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly said it will restore “gold-standard science,” but not publishing the PFNA research is a direct knock against that, experts say. Olson, who started his career as a lawyer at the EPA decades ago, said not publishing scientific reports isn’t normal for a presidential administration, either.
“When you have ‘gold-standard science’ that disagrees with what they want the narrative to be, they just try to kill it — and that’s extremely problematic,” Olson said.
“I personally don’t think it’s a coincidence that the agency is withholding release of an assessment that finds and designates health risks associated with PFNA exposure, while, [on] the other hand, they’re also weakening and eliminating these drinking water standards that were established under President Biden,” Minovi said.
“It would be very odd for them to release a report that says, ‘actually, this is harmful to your health if you’re exposed over time, but we’re not going to actually regulate it,’” she continued.
“I personally don’t think it’s a coincidence that the agency is withholding release of an assessment that finds and designates health risks associated with PFNA exposure, while, [on] the other hand, they’re also weakening and eliminating these drinking water standards that were established under President Biden.”
– Darya Minovi
You can reach out to your elected officials and local water companies to advocate for clean water.
“My personal belief … is that consumers should not have to bear the personal responsibility of things that are services that our government should and could provide,” Minovi said.
However, this is not the case right now. While it should not be on the consumer to advocate for clean drinking water or fix it themselves, that’s currently our reality.
“I think the bottom line is that this is a solvable problem,” Olson said. There’s technology to remove PFNA (and PFAS overall) from your water at home and from the water at the treatment plant. “Unfortunately, the federal government and the water utilities just aren’t feeling enough pressure from people to fix this problem,” he said.
You should call your elected representatives and your local water company, inquire about the PFAS in your water and voice your concern about having to drink these substances.
Certain states like Illinois, New York and more are working to introduce statewide PFAS regulations for products and/or drinking water.
“I think that might be the place where you can maybe have the most success ― talking to your state representative to see if there’s any interest in picking up where the federal government is falling short,” Minovi said.
Beyond PFNA in water, it’s also important to advocate for the removal of all forever chemicals for nonessential use, Ng said. Again, PFAS are found in clothing, food packaging, makeup and more.
“I think knowing where PFAS are used is still a huge piece … we often don’t get full ingredient lists for things, and so pressing your representatives and companies for better labeling when PFAS are present because then people can say, ‘Hey, I don’t want this in this product,’ and they can protest with their wallet,” Ng said. “And that will really help to motivate companies to find alternatives.”
In the meantime, certain at-home water filters can eliminate PFNA (and all PFAS) from your drinking water.
Any action by the government and your local water department will take time.
Unfortunately, this is an issue of haves and the have-nots. For those who can afford it, an immediate fix to this problem is getting a third-party-tested, at-home water filtration system.
But many people can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a water filtration system or opt for the (probably more expensive) non-PFAS carpet, which makes advocating for federal and state-level change the priority.
For those who can afford to purchase a filter, “you need to know what contaminants you’re worried about,” Olson said, adding that you should be able to track down this information by asking your water company.
Once you know what’s in your water, you can find filters that take away those contaminants. It’s important that you make sure the filters are certified by NSF International or the Water Quality Association. This will ensure the filters actually keep out what they say they do.
“Products certified by WQA to reduce PFAS can be found online,” Susan Keaton, the associate director of marketing and communications for the Water Quality Association, told HuffPost.
There are carbon filters, anion exchange systems, reverse osmosis filters and more. Reverse osmosis filters, in particular, have gotten lots of attention lately, and for good reason. They’re effective at removing the “vast majority of chemicals,” according to Olson, including forever chemicals like PFNA but also other harmful chemicals like arsenic and lead.
This doesn’t mean all reverse osmosis filters take out PFAS, though. The Water Quality Association “recommends verifying that the system you are considering is certified to reduce PFAS because not all reverse osmosis, carbon filters or anion exchange systems are designed to tackle these contaminants,” said Eric Yeggy, technical affairs director at the Water Quality Association.
Not knowing how to reduce PFAS exposure is not a moral failing. It’s a governmental failing.
Our health institutions are meant to protect us, and many people within these organizations want to do that, even if the powers that be don’t appear to share that desire.
“It’s really extremely problematic that EPA scientists go through the entire process of extensive peer review and internal and external review of the science and finalize a report, and then it’s basically asphyxiated before it becomes public,” Olson said.
Ng hopes this doesn’t destroy public trust in our institutions — “because the folks who worked with the EPA to put these reports together were scientists doing their work and really putting the best of the facts together to help protect the safety of the American public,” Ng explained.
Federal scientists have faced anger and scapegoating, particularly these last few months, added Minovi, but that’s misdirected.
“When you really follow the trail, you see just how much the corporations that stand to make a penny off of deregulation are actually influencing this process … and I would urge people to really question whether the administration is following through on its [Make America Healthy Again] principles,” Minovi said.