Your State May Be Banning Your Products

Your State May Be Banning Your Products

….State laws are already beginning to require products to be PFAS-free.

With no federal standard on the horizon regarding the manufacturing use of so-called “forever chemicals,” states are not waiting around for something to be done. Instead, 24 states have already taken matters into their own hands to ban or restrict the use of PFAS chemicals that have been known for their waterproof, stain-repelling, nonstick, and fire-resistant properties and found in a vast array of everyday products including carpeting, rugs, outdoor apparel, and non-stick cookware. There’s a very good chance that states you are selling into have either already moved to ban items like what you are selling or will soon. Now is the time to know what may be lurking in your catalogs and what the laws are in your own state.

So let’s explore that, shall we? This year alone, 195 new bills were introduced in dozens of state legislatures, seeking to require that an expanding list of products be PFAS-free. Some states have set deadlines that require all or most products made or sold in their states to be PFAS-free, with Minnesota the latest to pass such a measure last month.

As you would expect, the chemical industry argues that the landslide of new legislation is a gross overreaction and that the majority of PFAS chemicals are safe. But the fact that laws have received rare bipartisan support in an era when political divides have deepened into chasms speaks volumes about the support. The laws have been helped by lobbying pushes from broadly popular groups such as firefighters and farmers, and have prompted major companies like McDonald’s, IKEA, and Target to set deadlines for eliminating PFAS chemicals in all or most of their products.

In the short term, this means that you need to work even more closely with your suppliers in categories known to have used PFAS chemicals, and I suggest you start with outdoor wear. Some traditional retail manufacturers have been slow to move toward making a change, and information on when they will is hard to come by. This is another case of trust but verify with your suppliers. If your partners are importing and decorating, you really need to know the chemicals used in the manufacturing process, and the laws in the states you’ll be warehousing and selling into. This may be the time to make sure your supplier has the sophistication in-house to know the chemicals and these new laws that could impact you. There is no room for error caused by assumptions, have the information in writing — your relationship with your end-user client depends on it.

“What often happens when the federal government fails to act, states step in because we have to protect our citizens,” Maryland state senator Sara Love told the Washington Post. Love sponsored a bill signed into law last year that bans forever chemicals in firefighting gear and other products. “We also know that the more states that passed legislation on this, the more it would really push the federal government to do something.”

For its part, the EPA said that its newly proposed ban on two chemicals and restrictions on four others are based on reviews of hundreds of scientific studies showing links to a variety of health problems and are focused on PFAS that can be reliably detected in water and for which there are “proven treatment technologies.” The agency noted that it’s continuing research on other PFAS chemicals and considering further regulations, enforcement actions, and technologies that can remove them from the air, land, and water.But until the EPA and other federal agencies do set stricter policies on PFAS use in products and start levying fines on violators, some lawmakers say state laws are the only recourse.

The American Chemistry Council, the industry’s primary trade group, now says at least two of the substances could be problematic at high levels. But the group also argues that the vast majority of the 5,000-plus chemicals in the group are safe and that states are going too far by banning or restricting all of them. The group also says the laws could block the production of important products, such as semiconductors and medical devices. A step forward for the trade group, I suppose, since they have suggested for years that PFAS were perfectly safe.

“We have strong concerns with overly broad state legislation that takes a one-size-fits-all approach to the regulation of these chemistries,” Robert Simon, a vice president with the American Chemistry Council, told the Post. “Furthermore, a patchwork of conflicting state-based approaches could jeopardize access to important products.”

Unfortunately, this is one of those issues in promotional products that presents the challenge of far too many pieces of the puzzle moving at once. Your best course of action is simple:  make your clients aware of the issues, and work with them to mitigate the risk. Perhaps a conservative strategy of selecting other products within the category and avoiding PFAS chemicals altogether might be the best course for now. With the state laws changing rapidly, the individual most dangerous chemicals being identified at a different pace, and your clients’ comfort with risk, there isn’t a better alternative.