Must Read | PFAS the environment, and some are highly soluble and mobile. Documented evidence has shown that PFASs emitted to soil can readily move into groundwater and be transported well beyond the original contamination source.” The Regulatory Landscape PFAS chemicals are coming under regulatory scrutiny from all corners: Numerous states have enacted laws and regulations controlling or prohibiting the chemicals’ use or managing human exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering new rules, and in February, the European Union proposed a ban on the manufacture, use and selling of goods containing PFAS in the common market. States’ focus on PFAS has typically centered on various product categories, namely: • Food packaging. • Cosmetics or personal care products. • Children’s products. • Textiles. • Fabric, carpets or rugs, and upholstery. • Fish and deer meat harvested from select waterways and areas. How this activity affects the promotional products industry varies. Recent legislation of particular note to the promo industry includes bans on PFAS use in apparel that passed in New York and California. These prohibitions go into effect on December 31, 2023, and January 1, 2025, respectively. But by no means are these the only regulations instituted at the state level that will impact the industry. Seventeen states have one or more regulations governing PFAS use, while four more have bills in consideration. A law went into effect in Maine on January 1 that mandates notifying the state of any product being sold in the state that had intentionally added PFAS. Complicating efforts to comply with these laws, the prohibitions not only cover different product categories, but differ on timetables, how they measure PFAS and which chemicals they apply to – remember, there are more than 9,000 PFAS in use. Several federal agencies are also moving on PFAS. Among them is the Environmental Protection Agency, which in 2021 established Industrial Discharge into stream Drinking Water Fire ighting Foam PFAS Cycle Land ill WastewaterTreatment Plant Groundwater Boyko.Pictures / A Aleksii / Shutterstock.com Spark Publicatiomns
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