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Now that the state has delayed requirements that companies disclose PFAS in their products sold in Maine, regulators can revamp the reporting to ensure it is more meaningful to Maine consumers.
Because PFAS, a group of man-made chemicals, are in so many products, collecting this data – and making it useful – is a massive undertaking. Because of this, and the fact that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection didn’t have the staff needed to create and maintain the listings, lawmakers this spring extended a deadline for manufacturers to report on products sold in Maine that contain PFAS. Under a law passed in 2021, the requirement was set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. That was extended to January 2025.
Only a few companies had reported the information by Jan. 1 of this year and the information was not uniform.
Maine was the first state in the country to require such a PFAS registry. However, without consistent information being readily available to consumers, the registry that was envisioned was only of limited benefit in practice.
With the delay, lawmakers, the DEP and companies that will be required to report can make the data more user friendly and useful. The delay, however, should not become a tactic to weaken or further stall getting this information to Maine consumers.
A ban on added PFAS – also enacted as part of the 2021 law and set to take effect seven years from now – still stands. By 2030, any product containing intentionally added PFAS may not be sold in Maine unless the state determines that the use of the chemicals is unavoidable.
While the 2021 law has already been in effect, it has not lived up to its potential for several reasons, Bangor Daily News politics editor Michael Shepherd reported in April. One reason is that the Mills administration had granted more than 2,000 extensions to the reporting requirements that came online in January.
By late April, only 60 companies had complied with the reporting requirements.
Trade groups, led by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, called the rules unworkable due to lack of laboratory capacity and say businesses need more time to comply.
Because versions of PFAS are used in so many products, from waterproof clothes to grease-proof food wrappers to non-stick cookware, they have been found in water supplies, farms and elsewhere. Because they are slow to break down, they are often called “forever chemicals.”
A recent study, published in the scientific journal Exposure and Health, linked more than $60 billion in annual health care costs to PFAS exposure. The research suggests that long-term PFAS exposure could contribute to or exacerbate ailments such as low birth weights, endometriosis, adult-onset type 2 diabetes and infertility in both men and women.
Early estimates, which are likely to be dwarfed as more PFAS contamination is found, are that it will cost $400 billion to remove the chemical from the nation’s drinking water. Those costs should be borne by the chemical makers.
In the meantime, the best way to stop PFAS contamination is to reduce the use of these chemicals, where practicable, and to stop releasing them into the environment. Maine’s law was an attempt to start doing that. While the reporting requirements have been pushed back, the urgency to phase out these chemicals remains.