Landmark regulations against 'forever' toxins removed by Trump administration

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Health

Updated May 18, 2026, 9:35 PM ET
PUBLISHED May 18, 2026, 5:42 PM ET


Key Biden-era regulations designed to protect the nation’s drinking water from the most dangerous cancer-causing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were removed by the Trump administration Monday.

Manufactured since the 1940s to make products nonstick, stain-resistant and water-repellent, PFAS chemicals have been linked to cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage, hormone disruption and damage to the immune system, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Because PFAS can last for many decades in the environment, they are often referred to as “forever” chemicals.

Claiming the Biden administration failed to follow the law by cutting regulatory corners, the EPA will “rescind and restart” regulations on four PFAS, US Environmental Protection Agency EPA Administration Lee Zeldin said in a press briefing.

Those chemicals include perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), the last one often referred to as a GenX chemical. All are considered dangerous to public health. In addition, the administration eliminated restrictions on mixtures of PFNA, PFHxS, GenX and a fourth chemical, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). Mixtures of PFAS are even more dangerous to health, experts say.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/18/health/trump-pfas-rollback-wellness

[Ray Bruns]

1. Clean water is for Wussies!

[highplainsdem]

2. CNN didn't mention data centers. The Sierra Club - May 5 - said this is about data centers:

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/data-centers-have-pfas-problem

-snip-

Nevertheless, the Trump administration is considering relaxing rules on some PFAS chemicals because of their use in data centers.

-snip-

“This is the most common way of cooling in data centers,” says Norbert Conrad, deputy director of the High Performance Computing Center in Stuttgart, Germany. “It's similar to how a fridge is cooled, just much bigger. You use a compressor and gases to cool air or water for the computers.”

These gases can escape into the air, where they accelerate climate change. Some PFAS gases used in cooling of data centers have global warming potential that is thousands of times higher than CO2's.

PFAS chemicals can also be used in a different form of cooling, using immersion. Computers are submerged in a chemical fluid to which the heat transfers. PFAS fluids for applications like this can leak or seep into water sources, where they find their way to drinking water or are used in agriculture.

-snip-

[SamuelAdams]

3. So much for MAHA.

I guess RFK, Jr. decided forever chemicals are good for us after all.

[purr-rat beauty]

4. Haha no MAHA

These fucks don"t know if they're coming or going

[Historic NY]

5. Its costing millions of dollars to filter water from natural sources dur to contamination...

mostly from old military and active military bases. They literally poured the waste water from stuff like fire fighting chemicals and other down the drains. Large filtering systems must be constructed by municipal water plants

[ChicagoTeamster]

6. So was this because he got a bribe from the industry giants?

[mdbl]

7. Profit over death! That's the repuglican way.