“Contaminants Compass” is a monthly newsletter that provides updates, legal observations and actionable tips to navigate the evolving legal challenges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
This edition highlights the SEC’s withdrawal of proposed rules related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices, the potential inclusion of microplastics in the EPA’s Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, Delaware’s efforts to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water and updates on the aqueous film-forming foam multidistrict litigation’s (AFFF MDL’s) recent science day. The newsletter also looks at an Italian court’s sentencing of former chemical executives in a first-ever criminal conviction for PFAS contamination and ends with brief highlights of interesting articles.
Look for a new edition every month and feel free to reach out to the McGuireWoods team with questions regarding PFAS issues.
Federal Regulatory
SEC Drops Anti-Greenwashing Disclosure Requirements
On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission withdrew notices of proposed rulemaking including one that addressed “greenwashing” in ESG investment funds. The proposed rule on “Enhanced Disclosures by Certain Investment Advisers and Investment Companies About Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment Practices” noted that many registered funds and investment advisors consider ESG factors in their investment strategies. But asset managers and other investors sometimes face inconsistent and unreliable information when considering investment products claiming to consider one or more ESG factors. This lack of consistent and reliable information, according to the proposed rule, “can frustrate investors’ attempts to compare different ESG strategies across funds or advisers.” It can also undermine investor expectations, particularly when funds and advisers exaggerate their ESG practices or the extent to which their investment products or services consider ESG factors.
The June 2022 proposed rule sought to amend rules and forms under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. It proposed requiring certain registered investment advisers and companies to provide additional information regarding their ESG investment practices. Through this requirement and others, the SEC sought to combat the risk of greenwashing in ESG investments and strategies.
The proposed rule received comments expressing support and suggesting that the proposed rule represented an important step in providing investors with accurate information to assess climate-related investment risk. Other comments raised concerns, including that certain aspects of the proposed rule may be overly complex and prescriptive, departing from the SEC’s traditional approach to disclosure.
Announcing the withdrawal of the proposed rule last month, the SEC noted that it“it does not intend to issue final rules with respect to these proposals. If the Commission decides to pursue future regulatory action in any of these areas, it will issue a new proposed rule.”
Given the growing trend of PFAS lawsuits with greenwashing claims, investors should pay close attention to investment funds and opportunities sensitive to such lawsuits and claims. Investors expect that sustainability and sustainable investing will continue to drive innovation and create long-term value, but placing investments in companies and products that meet those expectations can be challenging. For example, recent lawsuits have targeted manufacturers labeling their products “all natural” or “sustainable,” despite testing allegedly finding PFAS in those products. See, e.g., Krakauer v. Recreational Equip., Inc., No. 3:22-cv-05830-BHS (W.D. Wash.).
Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule May Include Microplastics
In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated that the next Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) could include microplastics. In November 2024, 175 environmental groups submitted a petition to the EPA asking it to include microplastics in the Sixth UCMR — aka UCMR 6.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) provides that, every five years, the EPA must promulgate a UCMR, a monitoring program for up to 30 unregulated contaminants. The EPA selects candidate contaminants according to a multifactor framework. This framework considers candidate contaminants that were not monitored in prior UCMR cycles, may occur in drinking water and are expected to have a completed, validated drinking water method in time for rule proposal. The EPA then considers the availability of health assessments and other health-effects information, public interest, active use and availability of occurrence data. Finally, the EPA considers input from stakeholders, the cost of potential monitoring approaches and additional health-effects information.
The November 2024 petition urged the EPA to include microplastics in UCMR 6. Among other things, the petition noted that microplastics had not appeared in previous UCMRs and may occur in drinking water. It also discussed the potential threat that microplastics pose to human health, which may be compounded by chemical additives and contaminants they carry. Combined with public concern about microplastics, the petition emphasized that the EPA’s omission of microplastics from UCMR 6 would only delay critical data collection and regulation.
It is not certain whether the EPA will add microplastics to UCMR 6, but the November 2024 petition and the EPA’s recent statement expressing interest in microplastics signal a new reality that businesses and governments face in an increasingly plastic world. Businesses also face immense pressure to combat microplastic pollution and the problems that microplastics might pose to human and environmental health. Therefore, businesses should anticipate litigation and new laws and regulations.
State Regulatory
Delaware Strengthens State PFAS Drinking Water Regulations
On June 30, 2025, the Delaware House of Representatives unanimously passed Senate Bill No. 72, which is intended to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water. The Delaware House passed the bill a month and a half after the EPA announced it would delay deadlines for water utilities to comply with reducing some PFAS chemicals in drinking water. The bill is now ready for Gov. Matt Meyer’s signature.
Senate Bill No. 72 sets new maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for several types of PFAS in public drinking water. For perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), that MCL is 4 parts per trillion (ppt). For other types of PFAS — perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and GenX chemicals — levels cannot exceed 10 ppt. The bill also requires water utilities to monitor PFAS levels and notify public drinking water system users if PFAS levels exceed those MCLs.
Senate Bill No. 72 is a good reminder that regardless of the federal government’s stance on certain PFAS initiatives, state and local governments will continue to develop and implement PFAS regulations. Private companies, localities and other stakeholders must monitor PFAS developments at all levels and implement best practices to ensure compliance with new regulations and deadlines.
Litigation
AFFF MDL Science Day
On June 20, 2025, Judge Richard M. Gergel held a science day as part of the AFFF MDL pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. AFFF, commonly known as “firefighting foam,” has been used to fight liquid fuel fires since the 1970s. In the past several years, plaintiffs filed thousands of lawsuits across the country alleging various medical conditions and injuries caused by AFFF containing PFAS. This includes several types of cancer, thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis.
On Feb. 11, 2025, the court entered an order scheduling a science day to address two types of cancer frequently cited by plaintiffs: thyroid and liver cancer. The court also ordered the parties to submit peer-reviewed articles supporting or disputing an association between AFFF and the diseases prior to the science day.
Four plaintiffs’ experts and three defense experts presented. Four experts focused on liver cancer and three on thyroid cancer. The experts covered topics such as cancer causation and mechanisms of harm, PFAS exposure and risks, and human and clinical studies. While the court did not allow counsel to speak to or question the experts directly, the science day will undoubtedly impact the MDL moving forward. It will also help the court consider a critical question: Does a causal relationship between PFAS and certain diseases exist?
International
Italian Executives Sentenced to Prison Over PFAS Contamination
On June 26, 2025, the Court of Assizes of Vicenza sentenced 11 former chemical company executives to a combined 141 years in prison for crimes related to widespread PFAS pollution. The criminal convictions stemmed from Miteni SpA’s operation of a now-shuttered chemical plant in Trissino, Italy.
In 2011, the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea commissioned a study to evaluate PFAS pollution in major Italian river basins. In 2013, the study discovered significant PFAS contamination across the Veneto region in northeastern Italy. Italian authorities subsequently took a series of measures to determine the extent of the contamination to limit human exposure. Additional testing results showed high levels of PFAS pollution in groundwater, surface water and drinking water across three Italian provinces: Vicenza, Verona and Padova. Approximately 350,000 people live in the contamination zone, with approximately 140,000 in the “red area” — a high-exposure zone covering approximately 595 square kilometers (230 square miles).
Italian authorities eventually identified the Miteni chemical plant as the source of the PFAS pollution. They alleged that the plant had discharged wastewater containing PFAS into waterways for years. Authorities also alleged that Miteni knew about the contamination as early as the 1990s but failed to disclose it. As a result, prosecutors filed criminal charges against 15 former plant managers and executives. Prosecutors alleged that these individuals knowingly contaminated water supplies and attempted to conceal the problem.
Four years after the criminal trial began, the Court of Assizes of Vicenza found 11 of the 15 former executives guilty of environmental crimes. The court handed down prison terms ranging from 2 years and 8 months to 17 years and 6 months. In total, the court handed down prison sentences adding up to 141 years — more than the prosecution requested. The court also ordered the defendants to pay more than €57 million (approximately $67 million) in fines to the Italian environment ministry.
The Italian court’s sentencing marks the first-ever criminal conviction for PFAS contamination, a significant point as countries and courts across the globe grapple with the effects of PFAS pollution and how to hold companies and individuals accountable.
What We Are Reading
- Scientists at the University of Cambridge identified a family of bacterial species found naturally in humans, that absorb PFAS molecules from their surroundings. Research is underway to determine whether the discovery could lead to new probiotic dietary supplements that increase bacterial levels in humans to protect against the toxic effects of PFAS.
- At the end of June, researchers presented on the presence of microplastics in human reproductive fluids at the 41st Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Paris. While the study concerned a small group of men and women, the findings raise important questions about the effects of microplastics on human fertility and reproductive health.