PFAS as Air Pollutants: An Underregulated Pathway
PFAS air emissions from manufacturing facilities, waste incineration, and fluorinated gas operations represent a significant but underregulated contamination pathway. Unlike water and soil pathways, PFAS air emissions have received less regulatory attention despite documented atmospheric transport creating contamination far from emission sources.
EPA Clean Air Act Authority
EPA has authority to regulate PFAS air emissions under Clean Air Act provisions governing hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and national emission standards (NESHAP). PFOA and PFOS meet criteria for HAP listing, and EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap includes air emission regulation as a medium-term priority. State air agencies in Michigan, North Carolina, and New Jersey have moved ahead of federal standards with facility-specific emission controls.
Fluoropolymer Manufacturing Emission Standards
Fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities—the primary sources of industrial PFAS air emissions—currently operate under NESHAP standards developed before PFAS health concerns were fully understood. EPA is revising these standards as part of the PFAS Air Emissions Rule, expected to significantly reduce stack emissions from the fluoropolymer industry.
Community Air Monitoring
Environmental justice organizations in communities near PFAS-emitting facilities have deployed community air monitoring networks to document PFAS airborne concentrations independent of facility self-reporting. Data from these community networks have informed EPA permit conditions and enforcement actions against facilities underreporting PFAS emissions.