Chemical Engineering Trends, Intellectual Property Litigation, & Industry Predictions – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 50
What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023
PFAS are a chemically diverse family of over 10,000 synthetic fluorinated compounds, all containing at least one carbon-fluorine (C–F) bond. This makes them highly persistent and earns them the nickname "forever chemicals."...more
On 8 July 2025, the European Commission presented its European Chemicals Industry Action Plan. The Action Plan aims to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the European chemical sector while driving the transition...more
Do you want to destroy PFAS? But why stop there? Continue on to convert them into high value fluorochemicals, and recover and reuse the phosphate salts. That’s what one new study claims it can do....more
A recent study published in Nature Microbiology by researchers at the University of Cambridge revealed that certain human gut bacteria may have the capacity to bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and...more
In July 2025, just days before trial, plaintiffs in Baker et al. v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Co. reached a $27 million settlement with Dupont, resolving claims related to the contamination of drinking water in Hoosick...more
On June 23, 2025, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) published a Think Tank briefing entitled “Targeted scrutiny of the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability.” According to EPRS, while the European...more
On June 20, 2025, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report entitled Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Alternatives in Hydraulic Oils and Lubricants: Report on...more
When the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission unveiled its Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment on May 22 (reissued May 28), it framed the document as a clarion call: U.S. regulators must combat childhood...more
TSCA/FIFRA/TRI - TSCA Section 21 Petition Seeks Reconsideration Of 2024 Rule Regarding Procedures For Chemical Risk Evaluation: On May 15, 2025, the Center for Environmental Accountability (CEA) filed a petition under...more
On June 2, 2025, the United Kingdom (UK) Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) requested comment on a draft indicative list for long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCA), their salts, and related...more
As reported in our May 4, 2025, blog item, on May 2, 2025, a coalition of chemical companies petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an amendment of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section...more
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recently issued a press release that “Announces Major EPA Actions to Combat PFAS Contamination.” As we generally expected, the announcement did not include plans to rescind Biden-era PFAS rules...more
On May 2, 2025, a coalition of chemical companies petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an amendment of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7) rule requiring reporting for per- and...more
After addressing a number of other programs over the first 100 days of the new administration, on April 28, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally addressed PFAS. Administrator Lee Zeldin outlined a number of...more
On April 28, 2025, after much anticipation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin outlined the agency’s plans to address Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Although the announcement...more
On April 21, 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (“MPCA” or “the Agency”) released proposed rules that if finalized would help effectuate the Gopher State’s ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in...more
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is seeking comment on a first-of-its-kind proposed rule that will require manufacturers of products containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to...more
On April 8, 2025, New Mexico became the third state to sign into law a comprehensive ban on the use of intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer and commercial products: the “Per- and...more
As discussed in our prior alert, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published a proposed rule prescribing procedures and criteria for determining Currently Unavoidable Uses (CUU) of intentionally added per-...more
Our blog has reported previously on California PFAS regulations, including its watershed laws with novel definitions of PFAS and the noted problems with the total organic fluorine testing method. (Prior CA blog posts on...more
The California Senate Environmental Quality Committee passed California Senate Bill 682 aiming to ban the sale of products with intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) unless deemed to have...more
Recently, Congress allocated approximately $17 million in EPA’s fiscal year 2025 budget to modernize outdated technical systems and accelerate chemical reviews which may help resolve ongoing concerns about the functionality...more
Regulation and litigation surrounding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a class of organic chemicals used in a variety of industrial and consumer products – is on the rise and evolving day-by-day. And the PFAS...more
Maine recently published proposed rules (PDF link) aimed at implementation of its existing statute (which we’ve discussed here, here and here) limiting the sale and distribution within the state of products containing...more
The United Kingdom’s (UK) Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced on March 21, 2025, that it has published the following annual report and work program on activities under the UK regulation on the Registration,...more