Actions Needed to Improve DOD's Ability to Prevent the Procurement of Items Containing PFAS

April 26, 2023

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"The Department of Defense (DOD) faces challenges implementing statutory prohibitions on procurement of items containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Specifically, there is limited information on PFAS in items because there is no federal law requiring items to be labeled as containing PFAS and there are no Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-validated methods to detect PFAS in products. EPA has created a list of recommended third-party standards and ecolabels that addresses the presence of PFAS in some items. GAO's analysis of 11 item categories found that EPA information on PFAS exists for four. Two of these four categories relate to the statutory prohibition for DOD that goes into effect April 2023. For the seven other item categories, there are no EPA-recommended third-party standards or ecolabels."