[dannyfritz07]

Yes, PFAS and PFOA is a vast array of chemicals. My understanding is the EPA can only target specific chemicals for regulation. Therefore it is always cat and mouse when a new chain is added to change the chemical slightly in shape, but not function.

[dexwiz]

PFAS are a class of chemicals, not specific molecules. Depending on your database there are thousands or millions of them. Broadly they are fluorinated carbon chains of an arbitrary length. They are analogous to oils and fatty acids with Fluorine instead of Hydrogen. Banning them bans a wide arrange of industrial processes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-_and_polyfluoroalkyl_subst...

PFOA is a specific chemical, and probably one of the most widely used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid. It could be replaced by something like ADONA. So there is the cat and mouse game. But by banning PFAS in general, you can ban pretty much all fluorinated chemistry from consumer goods.

Here what the EPA is doing is banning impurities. Any chemical reaction will have some side products, especially organic chemistry, which are labeled as impurities. No matter the exact fluorinated chemical used in the reaction, it will produce some amount of PFAS as side products. By targeting the PFAS impurities, they don't have to ban a specific input chemical, they can ban large classes of chemicals that produce similar impurities.

    Environmental groups involved in the case welcome the EPA’s decision to essentially ban Inhance’s fluorination process.