6 Laws that will drastically reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals in 2025
Happy New Year!
Lets start off with some good news this year!
Nationwide there are some really interesting new laws that go into effect today that will go a long way in protecting us from harmful chemical exposure.
While other laws might potentially be going to effect in other states around the nation, California laws are always *extra* interesting and important because California laws end up impacting consumers nationwide. The reason? California is a huge market and companies are unlikely to create separate packaging/ products for the California market… so changes required here make their way to everyone nationwide!
Areas covered by the new laws:
PFAS IN CLOTHING
PERSONAL CARE AND COSMETICS
BABY FOOD AND HEAVY METALS
PFAS IN CLOTHING
LAW: AB1827- The California Safer Clothes and Textiles Act (AB 1817), bans the sale of clothes, outdoor gear, and other textiles containing toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in CA.
EFFECTIVE DATE:January 1, 2025
WHY ITS IMPORTANT: This bill will prohibit any person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any new, not previously owned, textile articles that contain regulated PFAS, except as specified, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when removing regulated PFAS in textile articles to comply with these provisions.
The bill would require a manufacturer of a textile article to provide persons that offer the product for sale or distribution in the state with a certificate of compliance stating that the textile article is in compliance with these provisions and does not contain any regulated PFAS.
While the list of textile products covered by California’s PFAS ban is expansive, there are some categories of products that are excluded from the definition of covered goods, including:
Single-use paper hygiene products
Carpets and rugs
Fabric treatments
Vehicles, vessels, and aircraft
Industrial-use filter products
Textile articles used in laboratory analysis and testing
Fabric used in a building’s design or construction
Clothing items used exclusively by the US military
Personal protective equipment
The ban also does not take effect for outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions until January 1, 2028; however, beginning January 1, 2025, outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions containing PFAS must be accompanied by a legible and easily discernable disclosure with the statement “Made with PFAS chemicals.”
LAW: New York Bill S1322/A994[3] prohibits the sale or offer for sale within the state of any new apparel containing intentionally added PFAS.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025
DETAILS:
PFAS chemicals are not only being regulated in California! In this New York law, “Apparel” is defined in this law to include clothing items for formal and regular wear such as undergarments, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, overalls, bodysuits, vests, dancewear, suits, saris, scarves, tops, leggings, leisurewear, formal wear, outdoor apparel, onesies, bibs, and diapers. The prohibition does not apply to outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions until January 1, 2028, and excludes professional uniforms like personal protective equipment altogether. The law also requires the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to set an enforceable numerical threshold level for PFAS in new apparel by January 1, 2027, regardless of whether such PFAS are intentionally or unintentionally added
LAW: Colorado Senate Bill 81, codified in Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 25-15-601 to 25-15-605.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Beginning January 1, 2025,
DETAILS:
Colorado[4] will prohibit the sale, offer for sale, distribution for sale, or distribution for use in the state of outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions[5] containing intentionally added PFAS unless the product contains a “Made with PFAS chemicals” disclosure. This restriction will be repealed on January 1, 2028, at which point all outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions and textile articles primarily used in households and businesses, including accessories, apparel, backpacks, and handbags, containing intentionally added PFAS will be banned. The disclosure requirement and prohibition apply to any intentionally added PFAS that has a functional or technical effect on the product.
PERSONAL CARE AND BEAUTY PRODUCTS
THE LAW: Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act of 2020 (AB 2762).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Jan 1, 2025
DETAILS: this law? that passed on Sept. 30, 2020, states that "no person or entity shall manufacture, sell, deliver, hold, or offer for sale, in commerce any cosmetic product that contains any of several specified intentionally added ingredients, except under specified circumstances" such as unavoidable trace contaminants.
All of the chemicals on this list are also present on the European Union's Annex II of Regulation No. 1223/2009, which lists the substances fully banned for sale in cosmetics in the EU.
Bans 24 chemicals:
Dibutyl phthalate (CAS no. 84-74-2).
(2) Diethylhexyl phthalate (CAS no. 117-81-7).
(3) Formaldehyde (CAS no. 50-00-0).
(4) Paraformaldehyde (CAS no. 30525-89-4).
(5) Methylene glycol (CAS no. 463-57-0).
(6) Quaternium-15 (CAS no. 51229-78-8).
(7) Mercury (CAS no. 7439-97-6).
(8) Isobutylparaben (CAS no. 4247-02-3).
(9) Isopropylparaben (CAS no. 4191-73-5).
(10) m-Phenylenediamine and its salts (CAS no. 108-45-2).
(11) o-Phenylenediamine and its salts (CAS no. 95-54-5).
(12) The following per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their salts:
(A) Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS); heptadecafluorooctane-1-sulfonic acid (CAS no. 1763-23-1).
(B) Potassium perfluorooctanesulfonate; potassium heptadecafluorooctane-1-sulfonate (CAS no. 2795-39-3).
(C) Diethanolamine perfluorooctane sulfonate (CAS 70225-14-8).
(D) Ammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate; ammonium heptadecafluorooctanesulfonate (CAS 29081-56-9).
(E) Lithium perfluorooctane sulfonate; lithium heptadecafluorooctanesulfonate (CAS 29457-72-5).
(F) Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)(CAS no. 335-67-1).
(G) Ammonium pentadecafluorooctanoate (CAS no. 3825-26-1).
(H) Nonadecafluorodecanoic acid (CAS no. 355-76-2).
(I) Ammonium nonadecafluorodecanoate (CAS no. 3108-42-7).
(J) Sodium nonadecafluorodecanoate (CAS no. 3830-45-3).
(K) Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)(CAS no. 375-95-1).
(L) Sodium heptadecafluorononanoate (CAS no. 21049-39-8).
(M) Ammonium perfluorononanoate (CAS no. 4149-60-4).
THE LAW: The California PFAS-Free Cosmetic Act (AB 2771)
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025,
DETAILS: this law bans the entire class of per- and polyfluorinated (PFAS), commonly known as “Forever Chemicals,” from personal care and beauty products sold in California.
BABY FOOD AND HEAVY METALS
THE LAW: California law passed by the Legislature in 2023
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025,
WHY ITS IMPORTANT:
Baby food makers that sell products in California will have to make a major shift toward transparency and provide a QR code on their packaging that takes consumers to test results for the presence in their product of four heavy metals: lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.
Even low levels of exposure to these compounds can cause serious and often irreversible damage to young children's brain development.
Finally, consumers everywhere will be able to view the heavy metal concentrations and make informed choices
These laws are LONG overdue and will undoubtedly reduce our exposure to really harmful chemicals… that si DEFINITELY something to celebrate!
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy ( and lower -tox) New Year!