United States: Hunton Andrews Kurth Releases PFAS in Products State Law Tracker
As states across the country develop laws addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a patchwork of requirements has begun to emerge, creating challenges for those who manufacture, distribute, and sell products around the country. Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP has created a solution for clients and the general public designed to help track these emerging state requirements for products containing PFAS.
In 2023, over 200 bills were introduced in states addressing PFAS, including restrictions for PFAS in products. This trend is expected to continue. Within the past few years, about a dozen states have passed laws that specifically require reporting, disclosures, or otherwise ban certain products containing PFAS such as food packaging, cookware, textiles, cosmetics, furniture, and children’s products. State legislatures have articulated concerns with health effects of PFAS and perceived harmful exposures to consumers, workers, and the environment coming from products. Notably, all states have adopted the same sweeping definition of PFAS: a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
The sheer scope of these state laws have subjected potentially millions of products currently sold or distributed in states to various labeling, disclosure, and reporting requirements or bans, creating challenges for companies in ascertaining which of their products are impacted, where those products are impacted, and how to gather the information they need to determine if even trace amounts of PFAS are in their products, or the materials used to manufacture their products.
The firm recently released its tracker for State Bans and Reporting Requirements for Products Containing PFAS (“PFAS in Products State Law Tracker”), an interactive platform that offers a visualization of PFAS statutory and regulatory actions on a state-by-state basis. The tracker includes a sortable data set, updated regularly, that serves as a research tool for identifying trends and provides high-level, general information about each state’s restrictions on PFAS-containing products.
“Navigating the regulatory uncertainty posed by an array of disclosure and registration requirements and outright bans on PFAS is a daunting task for companies that manufacture, distribute or sell products throughout the country,” said Hunton Andrews Kurth partner Greg Wall. “We hope the PFAS in Products State Tracker offers some clarity and will serve as a resource to the growing number of PFAS stakeholders to keep abreast of the legal requirements in each state, as they continue to rapidly evolve and develop.”
Hunton Andrews Kurth’s PFAS practice is interdisciplinary, with experience in state and federal regulatory, litigation, and technical issues related to PFAS. Our team includes former EPA and state agency lawyers, in-house counsel, scientists, engineers, and government officials. We represent clients in PFAS litigation and enforcement actions and advise on PFAS regulatory compliance and clean-up.