As “forever chemical” concerns mount, Colorado lawmakers move to ban product sales

March 31, 2022

Read the full article by Micheal Booth (The Colorado Sun)

"The sale of many products containing the dangerous “forever chemicals” known as PFAS would be banned in Colorado as early as 2024, under legislation to be introduced this week and backed by a host of consumer and environmental groups.

Toxic PFAS chemicals, used as lubricants and repellants in products ranging from firefighting foam to clothing and cooking utensils, leak into groundwater and have been found in drinking water supplies in Colorado and across the country.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser recently joined multiple states in suing the chemical manufacturers for decades of contamination that is proving exorbitantly expensive for state health departments and local water agencies to clean up.

“We know these things are dangerous for our health. We know they are forever chemicals that are poisoning our water supply,” said Danny Katz, executive director of the nonprofit consumer group CoPIRG, in welcoming the bipartisan bill. “We need to act now to phase out as many of them as possible to protect our health and protect Colorado’s water.”

The first sale ban would begin Jan. 1, 2024, for products with PFAS intentionally added in these categories: Carpets or rugs; cookware; cosmetics; fabric treatments; food packaging; juvenile products, oil and gas products; and textile furnishings. Through 2030, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment would be charged with identifying more categories of goods, and those would be added to the banned list. "