PFAS bill could impose bans

By Colin A. Young | Greenfield Recorder | June 23, 2023

Read the full article by Colin A. Young (Greenfield Recorder)

"Following years of a piecemeal approach to PFAS contamination and more than a year after a task force unanimously recommended 30 steps to deal with the problem, environmental groups, consumer advocates, firefighters and the Attorney General’s Office came before the Public Health Committee this week to push for legislation that would represent the state’s most significant step toward curbing “forever chemicals.”

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made chemicals that do not break down entirely in the environment, and exposure to their long-lasting presence has been linked to serious and negative health impacts like thyroid disease and kidney cancer. PFAS chemicals are all around us — they are used in non-stick cookware, food packaging, children’s products, carpets, leather goods, ski wax, firefighting foams and more — and they have leeched into drinking water supplies and the soil.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Goldberg, who works in the AG’s Environmental Protection Division, said that studies have estimated that 99% of the U.S. population has detectable levels of PFAS in their bloodstream."