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Maine should be proud to have passed the first-in-the-nation law in 2021 that will ban thousands of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from all products from cosmetics to floor wax to pizza boxes by 2030 except where unavoidable. In three years since our law was passed, 28 states adopted 122 laws restricting PFAS!
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that these chemicals pollute the bodies of virtually all Americans, including newborns. Tiny doses of PFAS, leached from food packaging, non-stick pans, bottled water, etc. are associated with increased risks of cancer, thyroid disorders, high cholesterol, liver damage and more.
Maine needs to strengthen and hasten the implementation of PFAS laws. While Maine’s early breakthrough law set 2030 as a deadline to find alternatives, 11 states have zoomed way ahead of us in establishing bans on PFAS in food packaging, an important source of PFAS pollution. PFAS often shows up in higher levels in people who eat takeout, fast food, and pizza more often than in people who regularly cook at home.
While our legislators passed a PFAS in food packaging law in 2019, we may not have a ban in place until 2025-26. After four years, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is just now set to approve a rule modeled after regulations in Washington state. Their Department of Ecology identified safe, effective alternatives for nine types of food packaging and banned PFAS in them in 2022.
Our Legislature, regulators and governor must act now to fund and fully implement our PFAS bans much sooner than 2030.
Joe Blotnick
Bernard
