On June 14, 2022, the United States Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions approved the addition of the Keep Food Containers Safe From PFAS Act as an amendment to a routine bill funding the Food and Drug Administration. If the bill ultimately passes with the amendment, PFAS would be banned in food packaging throughout the US effective January 1, 2024. On July 19, 2022, over 100 environmental and health NGOs sent a letter to Congress supporting the ban.
In 2021, the state of Maine passed a law to restrict all uses of PFAS by 2030. It further stipulated that by January 1, 2023, any manufacturer of a PFAS-containing product that wishes to sell in Maine must submit a notification including a description of the product and the purpose, amount, and types of PFAS used (FPF reported). With six months until the mandated notification period, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups are asking the state to delay the reporting requirement. In response, Defend Our Health and other civil society groups have responded calling the request “absurd” and arguing that if “companies are scrambling to get information for the PFAS reporting requirement in time for the 2023 deadline, that means they likely don’t know whether or not the products they’re selling contain harmful chemicals.”
Maine has already delayed a ban on PFAS in food packaging which was supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2022 (FPF reported).
The state of Rhode Island on June 27, 2022 passed the Toxic Packaging Reduction Act which bans the sale or use of food packaging containing intentionally-added PFAS within the state by January 1, 2024.
On July 7, 2022, the Belgian federal parliament voted unanimously in support of a resolution that if the EU does not ban PFAS in food packaging by 2023 then the national government should take action. That same day, Japan’s Ministry of Environment announced a ban on 56 perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, CAS 335-67-1) related substances. PFOA is a type of highly regulated PFAS recognized and controlled as a persistent organic pollutant under the UN’s Stockholm Convention. Japan’s regulatory change will align the nation’s rules with that of the convention.
Mexico is also working on regulation to restrict import and export of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS, CAS 1763-23-1) and PFOA. Stakeholders can comment on the proposal. The Ministry of Environment has not announced how long the comment portal will remain open.
References
Hannah LaClaire. (July 21, 2022). “Maine Chamber, trade groups ask for delay in forever chemicals reporting law.” Press Herald
Evan Popp (July 13, 2022). “Advocates pan industry letter requesting delay of Maine’s PFAS reporting requirement.” Beacon
State of Rhode Island (June 2022). “Toxic packaging reduction act.” TrackBill
Government of Belgium (July 7, 2022) “Pollution à Zwijndrecht – La Chambre veut l’interdiction des PFAS dans les emballages alimentaires.” RTBF (in French).
Government of Japan (July 7, 2022). “Chemicals related to the amendment of the Annex of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Regarding additional measures based on the Act on Regulation of Examination and Manufacturing, etc. (Fourth Report).” Ministry of Environment (in Japanese).
Government of Mexico (July 22, 2022). “Amendment to the agreement establishing the goods whose import and export is subject to regulation by the commission for the control of the process and use of pesticides, fertilizers, and toxic substances.” Ministry of Environment (in Spanish)
Read more
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families (June 14, 2022). “Bipartisan amendment to ban PFAS chemicals in food packaging passed in key Senate committee today.”
117th US Congress (November 2, 2021). “Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act of 2021.” Congress.gov
John Gardella (July 28, 2022). “Rhode Island PFAS regulations become law.” National Law Review
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families (July 19, 2022). “More than 100 groups from across the country urge Congress to ban toxic PFAS in food packaging.”
Lisa Sorg. (July 13, 2022). “Chemours appealing EPA’s stricter health advisory goal for GenX.” The Pulse
Lam Lye Ching (July 26, 2022). “Japan to ban 56 PFOA-related compounds.” Chemical Watch
Eline Schaart (July 28, 2022). “Mexico proposes restrictions on PFOS and PFOA.” Chemical Watch
