The Biden administration announced on December 8 an executive order on sustainable purchasing that directs federal agencies to seek alternatives to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
The new directive applies to more than $650 billion in annual federal purchases of goods and services from the private sector and creates an important new marketplace incentive for safer products.
Federal purchases include many products that are often made with PFAS as an intentionally added ingredient, such as clothing, carpeting, floor treatments, curtains, upholstered furniture, cleaners, food containers, and firefighting turnout gear.
“Federal spending can have a real impact on the decision-making of manufacturers and suppliers,” said Ben Frech, NGWA public relations and government affairs manager. “We applaud this decision because it will help drive more PFAS-free products into the marketplace and make a meaningful difference in fighting PFAS contamination.”
This comes on the heels of 62 members of the U.S. Congress calling on the administration to issue a “purchasing directive to avoid products made with harmful PFAS chemicals.”
Click here to read the executive order.
NGWA has long been an industry leader in providing PFAS research, education, and resources to the public and scientific communities. In 2017, NGWA published Groundwater and PFAS: State of Knowledge and Practice, which was one of the first PFAS guidance documents to be released. It can be found at NGWA.org/PFAS, which is a complete resource center about the groundwater contaminants featuring a FAQs document, a top-10 facts sheet, a homeowner checklist, and more.
NGWA is also once again hosting a conference on this topic, Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water, June 21-22, 2022 in Westerville, Ohio.