The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it is delaying the timeline for water utilities to comply with reducing some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, in drinking water " and reconsidering the allowable levels for others. "The work to protect Americans from PFAS in drinking water started under the first Trump Administration and will continue under my leadership," EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in the announcement. PFAS are a class of thousands of chemicals that have been used for decades to waterproof and stainproof a variety of products including clothing, cosmetics, upholstery and firefighting foams. They're sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they contain strong molecular bonds that persist for decades. Long-term exposure to PFAS has been linked with harms to human health, such as certain cancers or damage to the liver and immune systems.