YouTuber Company Prime Hydration Sued for Violating EPA’s PFAS Regulations

PFAS, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” are a large family of synthetic organic chemicals containing carbon chains in which most or all of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced with fluorine. PFAS are typically very stable and chemically inert over a wide range of temperatures, making them useful in a wide range of applications, but are very persistent in the environment and the human body. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now identified over 12,000 different PFAS.

As the anti-PFAS crackdown continues at the federal and state levels, popular YouTube personalities Logan Paul and KSI (Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji) and their energy drink company Prime Hydration have become the targets of class-action lawsuits across the U.S., most recently in April this year in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Prime Hydration Lawsuits

The pending lawsuits seek to hold Prime Hydration liable for multimillion-dollar civil penalties for allegedly marketing energy drinks containing certain PFAS at levels that exceed EPA-allowed levels in public drinking water supplies, according to tests ordered by the plaintiffs.

In response to the April class action complaint, Prime Hydration moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that no cognizable harm was alleged and that the facts did not establish a specific and imminent threat of future harm. The decision on this motion to dismiss remains pending.

PFAS Phase Out Act

Following a lawsuit filed against Prime Hydration in April, the Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act (FCRAA) was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. (See the PFAS Phase Out Act section.) As described in more detail in our recent consumer product alert, FCRAA seeks to eliminate all “nonessential” uses of PFAS. If adopted, it would require PFAS producers and users to petition EPA to have their PFAS uses deemed essential. Under the bill, manufacturers and users whose petitions are granted would be required to disclose certain details of PFAS use in reports submitted to EPA. In some cases, they would also have to submit a phase-out schedule to demonstrate that they will end unnecessary use of PFAS within ten years. Similar state legislation is also in the works and gaining support.

Next steps

As evidenced by recent lawsuits, as well as pending federal and state regulations, PFAS regulation is of interest to both regulators and plaintiffs’ attorneys. Consumer products industry entities working to navigate this rapidly changing regulatory landscape are urged to closely monitor regulatory developments regarding PFAS restrictions and reporting requirements at both the federal and state levels. We encourage companies to independently test their products for PFAS before placing them on the market. While the testing process may seem expensive at first, it can protect companies from negative publicity and liability exposure in the future.