PFAS

2023 - 1 - 12

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Natural Resources Defense Council"

In Colorado, Oil and PFAS Shouldn't Mix (Natural Resources Defense Council)

We can add PFAS contamination to the list of ways the oil and gas industry is threatening Coloradans' health. Two new laws aim to stop it—but are they ...

[Colorado-focused investigation](https://psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/fracking-with-forever-chemicals-in-colorado.pdf) [ by PSR’s Dusty Horwitt and Barbara ](https://psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/fracking-with-forever-chemicals-in-colorado.pdf) [Gottlieb](https://psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/fracking-with-forever-chemicals-in-colorado.pdf) [ soon followed. For example, the EPA just proposed to designate two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, as [hazardous under Superfund law](https://www.nrdc.org/media/2022/220826) in August. [Avinash Kar](https://www.nrdc.org/experts/avinash-kar), a senior attorney who directs NRDC’s program on healthy food and communities. [Another new law](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1345), also signed by Polis in June, goes after PFAS more directly. [result of a law](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1348) that Governor Jared Polis signed last June), those exemptions are over. [Colorado’s chapter of ](https://350colorado.org/) [350](https://350colorado.org/), a global climate action organization committed to ending fossil fuel use. [Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) report](https://psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/fracking-with-forever-chemicals.pdf). That’s because of Colorado’s chemical disclosure exemptions, which allow oil and gas companies to withhold information about the substances they use in fracking, including PFAS, by claiming the formulas to be trade secrets. [perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances](https://www.nrdc.org/protect-people-toxic-pfas-chemicals) (PFAS for short), exposure to which has been linked to a wide range of health problems including cancer, thyroid disease, developmental issues, and reproductive harm. However, the use of PFAS by the oil and gas industry is not as well documented. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says PFAS can be found in the blood of [nearly every person](https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/PFAS_FactSheet.html) in the United States. [ranked 18th](https://www.denverpost.com/2022/04/21/denver-fort-collins-worst-air-polluters/) among the U.S.

Oeko-Tex bans PFAS in textiles in 2023 update (just-style.com)

The Oeko-Tex Association has issued a ban on the use of PFAS/PFC in textiles, leather and footwear under its certifications.

Starting April 2023, the new Oeko-Tex Organic Cotton certification will focus on reliable labelling of organic cotton textiles. In general, having strict requirements for certain substances reduces exposure to the environment, workers and consumers. The new Oeko-Tex Organic Cotton certification will verify reliable labelling of organic cotton textiles starting April 2023. The self-assessment and the on-site visit to customers were voluntary. This is in coordination with the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (ZDHC MRSL) version 3.0 and its new Conformance Guidance 2.0. The new regulations will finally come into force in the first quarter of 2023, after a transition period.

Maine farmers impacted by PFAS testify before committee (NewsCenterMaine.com WCSH-WLBZ)

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Agricultural Trades Show wrapped up Thursday at Augusta Civic Center. The annual event drew farmers and businesses from across ...

Bills to regulate toxic 'forever chemicals' died in Congress – with ... (The Guardian)

Lobbying industry flexed muscle to ensure bills that aimed to set stricter standards on PFAS compounds went nowhere.

With the Republicans in control of the House, it is unlikely to move. Meanwhile, Capito has received about $180,000 from the chemical industry since 2017, and represents a state with a DuPont factory that is responsible for extensive PFAS contamination. The Republican senator Shelley Moore Capito, the committee’s ranking GOP member, had in 2019 introduced a bill that included many of the same provisions. Several provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act that order the military to take steps to clean up widespread PFAS contamination on its bases also became law. But the chemical industry records billions of dollars in PFAS sales annually, and has deployed lobbyists to protect its revenues. Because of their health risks, no chemical in recent years has drawn as much regulatory and legislative attention at the state and federal level.

Proposed PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Regulations Fail in U.S. ... (EcoWatch)

Nearly all of the proposed bills for stricter regulations on PFAS or forever chemicals failed in the U.S. Congress.

In 2021, Maine became the [first state to ban PFAS](https://www.ecowatch.com/maine-forever-chemicals-2653823872.html) in all products by 2030. In 31 states, over 200 PFAS-related bills have been introduced, according to Congress, states are introducing and passing their own regulations and bans on forever chemicals. In the last session, nearly all of the proposed bills for stricter regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, failed in the U.S. Even with tighter restrictions on PFAS, as some companies and governments around the world are setting stricter standards or outright bans on PFAS, these chemicals will remain in the environment indefinitely, since they do not easily break down. [PFAS Strategic Roadmap](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action-2021-2024) for 2021 through 2024, including a recently announced [test order on PFAS](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-issues-next-test-order-under-national-testing-strategy-pfas-used-plastics-chemical) to gain toxicity data on trifluoro(trifluoromethyl)oxirane (HFPO), which is used in plastic manufacturing, as well as the release of new [PFAS Analytic Tools](https://echo.epa.gov/trends/pfas-tools) for communities. Companies lobbied successfully against PFAS regulations, despite public health officials’ warnings of the links between PFAS and human health problems. [Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3662?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22PFAS%22%2C%22PFAS%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=2) and the [Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/231?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22PFAS%22%2C%22PFAS%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=5), both of which focus on PFAS in firefighting foams, another common source of these chemicals. [enacted some restrictions on PFAS](https://www.ecowatch.com/forever-chemicals-drinking-water-epa.html), but proposed bills such as the failed [PFAS Action Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2467/text), would have offered stricter legislation that could not easily be reversed in a Republican administration. [as reported by The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/13/pfas-toxic-forever-chemicals-republican-house). [PFAS](https://www.ecowatch.com/pfas-forever-chemicals-explainer.html) are a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals found in many everyday items, from makeup to non-stick cookware to waterproof clothing and gear. [most PFAS-related bills](https://www.congress.gov/quick-search/legislation?wordsPhrases=PFAS&wordVariants=on&congressGroups%5B%5D=0&congresses%5B%5D=117&legislationNumbers=&legislativeAction=&sponsor=on&representative=&senator=) to fail.

California Leads The Fight on Forever Chemicals - San Francisco ... (San Francisco Bay Times)

That's because my bill AB 1200 took effect this month, banning PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, from those wrappers and boxes, which are ...

We must get these awful chemicals away from us as much as possible before even more damage to our health and environment is done. A recent study by the Green Science Policy Institute found high concentrations of PFAS in school uniforms sold in the United States and Canada. Further pushing the nail into the PFAS coffin is my bill from last year, AB 1817, a follow-up to AB 1200. I sought public office because I wanted to bring about change and improve the lives of Californians. And such commitments for large users of food packaging likely contributed to 3M’s decision. PFAS are a class of roughly 9,000 man-made chemicals linked to a host of health problems that include cancer, hormone disruption, thyroid disease and vaccine interference.