Tell Your State Legislators to Ban PFAS Pesticides

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as “forever chemicals” are a class of highly toxic man-made fluorinated chemicals used in a variety of products, including pesticides, waterproof fabric, waterproof sunscreen, dental floss, stain-resistant carpets, nonstick cookware, flame retardant furniture, take-out containers, cosmetics and firefighting foam.

PFAS kills. There is scientific evidence that it causes cancer, kidney disease, birth defects, and liver damage, and batters the immune system.

The reason PFAS has been detected in the blood of 98% of Americans and is contaminating 45% of U.S. tap water, is because companies like 3M and DuPont have always had a free pass to dump their waste right into streams, rivers and sewage systems.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!

Amara Strande died at age 20 of liver cancer because Scotchguard manufacturer 3M had been dumping its PFAS waste in her St. Paul suburb since the 1950s.

In 2023, the year Amara passed away, Minnesota passed the PFAS ban she tirelessly lobbied for until her untimely death. It came to be known as Amara’s Law.

According to Safer States, 193 state policies on PFAS have been adopted in 30 states. Eleven states (ME, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, WA, and WI) have enforceable limits on PFAS in drinking water. Four states (ME, MN, NM, and WA) ban PFAS in a wide range of products.

For example, New Mexico passed a law in 2025 to phase out intentionally added PFAS in consumer products from 2027 to 2032. Beginning in 2027, New Mexico will ban the sale of cookware, food packaging, dental floss, children’s products, and firefighting foam containing intentionally added PFAS. In 2028, the law will ban the sale of carpets and rugs, cleaning products, cosmetics, fabric treatments, feminine hygiene products, textiles, textile furnishings, ski wax, and upholstered furniture containing intentionally added PFAS. By 2032, all products containing intentionally added PFAS will be banned for sale unless the state’s Environmental Improvement Board adopts a rule specifying that the use of PFAS in a product is unavoidable.

Several more states ban PFAS in:

Apparel: Six states including CA, CO, CT, ME, NY and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in apparel.
Carpets/Rugs: Ten states including CA, CO, CT, ME, MD, MN, NY, RI, VT, and WA have adopted restrictions on PFAS in carpets, rugs, and/or aftermarket treatments.
Cleaning Products: Four states including CO, CT, ME, and MN have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in cleaning products.
Cookware: Six states including CO, CT, ME, MN, RI and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in cookware.
Dental Floss: Four states including CO, CT, ME, and MN have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in dental floss.
Firefighting Foam: Fifteen states including AK, CA, CO, CT, HI, IL, ME, MD, MN, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT, and WA have banned the sale of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
Food Packaging: Twelve states including CA, CO, CT, HI, ME, MD, MN, NY, OR, RI, VT, and WA have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in food packaging.
Juvenile Products: Eight states including CA, CO, CT, ME, MN, OR, RI, and VT have adopted restrictions on PFAS in juvenile products.
Menstrual Products: Seven states including CA, CO, CT, ME, MN, RI, and VT have enacted phase-outs of PFAS in menstrual products.
Personal Care Products: Ten states including CA, CO, CT, ME, MD, MN, OR, RI, VT, and WA adopted restrictions on PFAS in cosmetics.

Maine’s 2022 PFAS law included a ban on the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer (the industry name for it is “biosolids”).

In addition to Maine, several other states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia, are testing sewage sludge for PFAS and restricting land disposal when levels are above limits. Unfortunately, those levels are mostly set too high. The EPA’s 2025 draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment found severe risks posed by PFAS levels as low as 1–5 parts per billion, including immune dysfunction, thyroid disease, and cancer.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!

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*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS*

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Dear [State Legislator],

Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Washington have passed broad bans on products containing PFAS. Several more states have banned PFAS from a more limited number of consumer products. (See https://www.saferstates.org/priorities/pfas/)

Maine’s PFAS ban includes a prohibition on the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer (the industry name for it is “biosolids”).

Every state in the nation should do the same, but the legislation that has been passed so far leaves out a significant source of PFAS: pesticides.

Some sectors are transitioning away from PFAS, but the pesticide industry is doubling down. The Environmental Protection Agency recently approved six new pesticides that qualify as PFAS: Corteva-DowDuPont’s fluazaindolizine under President Biden, and Syngenta-ChemChina’s cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram, Bayer-Monsanto’s diflufenican, BASF’s trifludimoxazin, and Sumitomo-Valent’s epyrifenacil under President Trump.

Chemical companies like DuPont and 3M have covered up evidence of the dangerous human health and environmental impacts of PFAS since the 1960s.

Today, overwhelming research links PFAS to a wide range of health problems, including kidney, testicular, bladder, and prostate cancer, as well as developmental, immune, reproductive, and hormonal dysfunction.

Chemical companies are replacing older PFAS with other chemicals in the PFAS family. Unfortunately, these replacements, such as GenX, act a lot like older PFAS, and studies show that they can present similar hazards. Short-chain perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and perfluoroalkyl carboxylates adversely affect rat livers and thyroid hormones just like their long-chain homologues do.

PFAS do not break down naturally and bioaccumulate in the environment and our bodies.

It’s time to ban all PFAS--including in sewage sludge "fertilizer" and pesticides--and set to work cleaning up the water and remediating the land. Some plants, including hemp, have been shown to suck PFAS out of the soil, a process known as "phytoremediation."

For more information, please contact the National Conference of Environmental Legislators: http://www.ncelenviro.org/issue/pfas/

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

[Your Name]

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