Study: Texas at risk of toxic 'forever chemicals'

More than 21 tons of extremely toxic and persistent chemicals have been injected into more than 1,000 oil and gas wells across Texas since 2013, and the chemicals could pose a risk to public health, according to a recent study.

The study by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) said that the chemicals known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are toxic at microscopic levels and have multiple negative health effects, including cancer.

They also are resistant to breaking down in the environment, which has led to their "forever chemicals" nickname.

The first commercial product of PFAS was patented as Teflon in the late 1940s. It has since been used in thousands of products, from nonstick cookware to waterproof clothing, to plastics to dental floss.

Some PFAS chemicals, the most prominent of which are known as PFOA and PFOS, have been used in food packaging, fir-fighting foam, and in 3M's widely used fabric protector, Scotchgard.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported in 2022 that the manufacture and use of PFOA has been phased out in the US, and no chemical company has reported making PFOS in the US since 2002.

But between 2013 and 2022, the study found that oil companies in Texas used another 3 million tons of potentially toxic chemicals that remain unidentified because state rules allow the industry to not reveal them to the public, the analysis found.

The study found that in the nine-year period, oil and gas companies injected more than 58,000 oil and gas wells in 183 of Texas's 253 counties, including at least one fracking chemical, whose identity the companies withheld from the public through "trade secret" designations.

The combined weight of those chemicals totaled more than 6 billion pounds, the study said.

The PSR analysis is based largely on a review of industry self-reported data recorded in FracFocus, the official repository for Texas' required disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. The data that PSR was able to analyze might not reveal the full extent of PFAS contamination in Texas, the analysis said.

"Evidence that PFAS is being used in Texas's oil and gas wells is alarming, and the scale of trade secret chemical use in the state is staggering," stated lead author Dusty Horwitt in the report release.

"Texas officials should act immediately to protect the public by prohibiting the use of PFAS in oil and gas extraction and requiring full disclosure of all chemicals used in oil and gas wells."

"PFAS are powerfully toxic, they move readily through water, and they last for centuries in the environment," said Barbara Gottlieb, director for environment and health at PSR and the study's coauthor. "When you consider the tons of PFAS that have been used in Texas wells, plus the billions of pounds of chemicals whose identity we can't even know, we're looking at a grave potential threat to Texans' health."

Some criticized Texas' lax regulation.

"Allowing frackers to operate without oversight leaves Texans in the dark while putting our water and health at risk," said Adrian Shelley, Public Citizen's Texas Office Director.

"What is truly frightening is that no one really knows the full inventory of chemicals that oil and gas companies pump into the ground daily. Lawmakers and state regulators must stop siding with industry interests and instead protect their constituents and our water supply," Shelley continued.