Pew Urges Texas to Strengthen Assessment of 16 “Forever Chemicals”

On Jan. 30, 2026, The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted comments to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regarding its proposal to update toxicity factors—science-based hazard values that will inform regulatory exposure limits—for 16 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are highly persistent, are a large class of chemicals known to cause endocrine disruption and other health harms.

In its comments, Pew commended TCEQ’s efforts to undertake a systematic review to update its PFAS toxicity factors and identified strengths of the commission's proposal. However, the comments also highlighted certain methodological limitations pertaining to the completeness, transparency, and reliability of TCEQ’s approach that risk underestimating the health effects of the 16 PFAS.

Pew offered several recommendations to boost the rigor of TCEQ’s assessments, including more comprehensively capturing the relevant literature, strengthening quality control of AI-assisted screening of search results, and effectively integrating epidemiological evidence.