By Drew Hutchinson 2024-09-30T15:50:17000-04:00
• Law is ‘crucial’ for protecting women and girls, sponsor says
• Companies will be punished for unavoidable PFAS, groups say
California will ban the sale of menstrual products containing PFAS—whether the chemicals were intentionally added or not.
Assembly Bill 2515, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed on Monday, makes manufacturing or selling tampons, pads, period underwear, and more containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) above a strict limit illegal by 2027. The limit has yet to be determined.
Existing California law bans the sale of cosmetic products that contain intentionally added PFAS, a class of chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues, starting in 2025.
The law is a “crucial step toward protecting the health of millions of women and girls who use menstrual products,” California state Assemblymember Diane Papan (D), the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement Monday. “These products are in direct contact with some of the most sensitive areas of the body and long-term exposure to PFAS through such intimate use is dangerous.”
California joins Vermont, Colorado, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and other states that have enacted laws to ban PFAS in similar products. California’s law, however, is different because it accounts for both intentionally and unintentionally added PFAS.
Manufacturing groups say the law will unfairly punish companies. Many manufacturers don’t add PFAS to their products on purpose, but they can’t always control exposures to the chemicals throughout the supply chain, trade associations told the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee.
To contact the reporter on this story: Drew Hutchinson in Washington at
dhutchinson@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: JoVona Taylor at jtaylor@bloombergindustry.com; Zachary Sherwood at zsherwood@bloombergindustry.com; Maya Earls at mearls@bloomberglaw.com