The CDC has quietly published a controversial review of perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that indicates more people are at risk of drinking contaminated water than previously thought.

A major environmental health study that had been suppressed by the Trump administration because of the “public relations nightmare” it might cause the Pentagon and other polluters has been quietly released online.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the controversial 852-page review of health dangers from a family of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — manmade chemicals used in everything from carpets and frying pan coatings to military firefighting foams — on its website this morning, and will publish a notice in the Federal Register tomorrow.Last month, the Union of Concerned Scientists obtained EPA emails — which were first reported in Politico — describing a government effort to withhold the CDC report because it was widely expected to raise a “potential public relations nightmare” about the dangers posed by PFAS chemicals. White House and EPA officials, in the emails, discussed how the release of new information could be particularly inconvenient for the Department of Defense, which already faces significant cleanup costs related to the PFAS compounds, but could see those costs substantially increase if the chemicals turned out to be even more dangerous than previously thought.

......

Several members of Congress have since demanded the release of the report, and the EPA earlier this month held a summit meeting in Washington, D.C., with scientists and officials from federal agencies to consider next steps in addressing the PFAS concerns. That meeting was notable because several news organizations were excluded or forcibly removed from the room.