Your favorite clothing, appliances, and even dental brush may contain harmful chemicals that are harmful to human health. Nowadays, a new Colorado law is aiming to make those items safer.
All products that Coloradans buy and use daily that are made using a process known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, may be affected by the new rules.
Because of how long-lasting they are, they are frequently called “forever substances,” which makes them excellent ingredients for nonstick cookware and waterproof attire.
The problem is, the more people are exposed to PFAS, the more they may build up in the body, and you increase the risk of major health problems, including cancer, heart disease, and fertility.
This year, activists celebrated the passing of the new law in Broomfield.
Here’s how the legislation will work: starting in 2026, the price of certain cleansing products, appliances, dental floss, menstrual products, and mountain foam that contain PFAS may get banned.
By 2028, it will also ban the sale of all Fluoride- treated clothes, backpacks, and watertight outdoor garments. Businesses may be required to label PFAS clothes with reporting names starting in 2025.
State Senator Lisa Cutter, a Democrat representing Evergreen and Morrison, was one of the president’s partners.
“We are aware that PFAS are a serious chemical. We don’t need to continue producing them. Surely, there are situations where it’s not realistic right away to lean away from them, but we need to get moving in that direction,” Cutter said. “Our community shouldn’t have to pay the price for their health.”
When asked about concerns about the lack of practical alternatives to long-lasting outdoor clothing, Cutter responded, “I think we’re smart people, there’s lots of innovation, and there are lots of things going on already in that space, and I think people won’t have a motivation to change if we don’t point people in that direction through legislation.”
Cutter continued, “There are many items we can do to produce items that are water resistant and tough without using harmful compounds.”
Madhvi Chittoor, 13, of Arvada, is a rising freshman in high school and an environmental activist. She backed the laws change during her testimony at the senate this spring.
” They do n’t biodegrade, and they bioaccumulate into all living beings, which includes our food, even in our water, our soil, all over the ecosystem, in animals, and now even in our bodies”, Chittoor said. ” It’s seen yet in babies, and it causes but many health outcomes, and it’s a pretty big problem”.
More state are enacting laws to restrict their employ in daily life as more research is done on the potential risks of exposure to PFAS is conducted.
According to Safer States, Colorado is one of 28 states that have PFAS laws.
Nationwide, the EPA set novel legal parameters this spring on PFAS in drinking waters.
However, it will cost tens of millions of dollars in tax dollars and likely result in a hike in water bill rates for some local water districts.
In Colorado, $51 million has already been spent on tidy up, according to an show filed with the bill.
In Broomfield, Metro Water Recovery also backed the law change, which is why.
The director of environmental services for Metro Water Recovery, Jennifer Robinette, said, “Metro is very focused on making sure our communities and our ratepayers don’t foot the bill for this contamination that we receive. We work with the businesses that discharge to our treatment facilities to inform them of these types of chemicals, but it’s frustrating, you know, the fact that we’re receiving it, but we can’t do anything about it because it keeps coming in all these products.”
Robinette hopes that the bill will reduce the amount of PFAS contamination that ultimately ends up in wastewater and water runoff.
“There’s no information on most product labels that inform consumers”, she said. Therefore, we must rely on bills like this to help consumers make informed decisions and prevent it from being present at the beginning.
Some critics warn that the new state law may only lead to higher consumer prices elsewhere. When Cutter is questioned about those concerns, Cutter claims that the law will give businesses the opportunity to develop safer products gradually.
It’s very difficult to confront a powerful lobby, which has spent a lot of money to ensure that these chemicals are still used in these products and that these businesses are profitable, according to Cutter. “We took comment from a lot of people and some companies flew people in from all over the world to lobby because, you know, (they claim) we’re stifling innovation, we’re stifling industry, but I think we’re smarter and better than that. I think you can have both things. I believe having a successful business is possible in addition to protecting the communities in which you work. I think there are alternatives, and I have faith that we’re going to be able to continue developing those.”
In any case, Chittoor believes that laws like these are necessary to safeguard our future because, if left unchecked, these practically insurmountable chemicals will only grow in our bodies and the environment.
She claims that the new law expands on the 2022 law for PFAS products, which she also helped pass, and that this is not the end of her campaign.
“We still have such a long way to go… we still have so many other products”, Chittoor said. “We have to ban it all everywhere”.
How will this new Colorado law be enforced? According to Cutter, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office will be in charge of receiving and looking into complaints against non-compliance companies.
At the state capitol in the spring, the American Chemistry Council adopted a “neutral” position on the bill.
The American Chemistry Council stated in full in a written statement to CBS Colorado:
“We applaud Colorado’s legislative efforts to concentrate on the issue.” Today’s PFAS are integral to thousands of products that we use every day and are an important enabling technology for key sectors of the economy, including aerospace, autos, semiconductors, electronics, alternative energy, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, building and construction, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. Many state legislators continue to recognize the value of PFAS chemistries because the majority of PFAS legislation is focused on specific applications rather than broad bans. 28 states have passed PFAS laws to date, with the majority ( more than 90% ) being PFAS-related.
choosing to concentrate on regulating a particular set of uses or establishing environmental standards for a particular PFAS. Given their scope and significant unintended consequences, two states have implemented extremely broad regulations and are struggling to put them into action. Overall, state and federal policymakers appear to be aware that there are important, safe uses for fluorochemistry, both of which are influencing more focused public policies. This is because it is not scientifically accurate to group all of it together.
“The importance of PFAS chemistries has been echoed by many critical stakeholders, including:
- The Biden Administration’s Department of Defense has said that losing access to PFAS “would greatly impact national security”. According to DoD, “PFAS are critical to DoD mission success and readiness and to many national sectors of critical infrastructure, including information technology, critical manufacturing, health care, renewable energy, and transportation. DoD relies on an innovative, diverse U. S. industrial economy. Most… PFAS are critical to the national security of the United States”.
- The semiconductor industry, warning on restrictions to new PFAS chemistries in EPA’s PFAS New Chemicals Framework, has warned that onerous restrictions “would be catastrophic…. and would result in a complete shutdown of all U. S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing operations”.
- AdvaMed, a trade association representing advanced medical technology companies, speaking before Congress on one category of PFAS, has said,” It is hard to imagine the medical industry without the many important products that contain fluoropolymers. C- PAP machines, prosthetics, IV bags, surgical instruments, and many other medical technologies contain PFAS. These medical devices are essential for Americans’ well-being and treatment.
- The U. S. Chamber of Commerce has said,” Today’s innovative fluoro chemistries are the backbone of our economy”.
“PFAS are a diverse universe of chemistries. They have distinct environmental and health profiles. It is not appropriate or scientific to treat all PFAS the same. In fact, the majority of PFAS that have attracted attention has been produced in the US, Europe, and Japan. Consumers should also be aware that today’s PFAS chemistries have been subject to ongoing review, regulatory review, and have solid support from a body of health and safety data. There has been significant work to address potential issues with PFAS through Congressional action, and PFAS chemistries are being regulated at the state and federal levels, including through the actions described in EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap. We support strong, science-based PFAS chemistries that account for the differences between them and continue to enable the many products they produce. We will continue to speak with Colorado’s leaders about the implementation of this new law.