States Take Action to Reduce Use of Forever Chemicals and Promote Clean Technology

A patchwork of state laws enacted over the last three years is generating fresh hope by prohibiting the use of PFAS in consumer goods. These laws are mostly passed in Democratic-controlled states and are quietly forcing many companies to phase out the chemicals as they become illegal to use in some of the nation’s largest economies. PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals often used to make thousands of consumer products across dozens of industries resist water, stains and heat. The chemicals are ubiquitous, and linked at low levels of exposure to cancer, thyroid disease, kidney dysfunction, birth defects, autoimmune disease and other serious health problems.