Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Quoted by Chemical Watch in Article “Firefighting foam maker sues US EPA over PFAS test order”

On August 22, 2022, Chemical Watch quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®), regarding a recent lawsuit by a firefighting foam producer against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for including the producer in the agency’s initial PFAS TSCA test order, saying it neither manufactures nor processes the surfactant 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide betaine (6:2 FTSB) that is subject to it.

Rich Engler, director of chemistry at Bergeson & Campbell, added that “whether it is appropriate for EPA to order National Foam to do some particular testing on the neat [solid] substance is a separate question from whether EPA can issue an order to National Foam as a processor of this substance.”

The agency has typically viewed a chemical’s handler as a processor, with “a consistent history of treating mixtures that contain the substance under the same legal standard as the substance itself”, he told Chemical Watch. For instance, an importer must fulfil chemical data reporting (CDR) requirements for a solution as though it imported the constituent substance and solvent individually.

See – https://chemicalwatch.com/549525/firefighting-foam-maker-sues-us-epa-over-pfas-test-order (subscription required)