New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on December 3, 2020, that prohibits the sale of food packaging containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), effective December 31, 2022. The legislation, S8817/A4739C, defines PFAS as organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

The recently published Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) Draft Chemical Action Plan (CAP) for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS Draft CAP) recommends actions to reduce PFAS exposure, use, and releases in Washington state.

On July 23, the New York Senate and Assembly passed bills that ban the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging.

The Washington State Department of Ecology’s (DoE) final legislative report on Priority Products under the Safer Products for Washington program identifies eleven priority products that the department considers to be a significant source of or use of priority chemicals. The list of products includes food and drink cans with liners containing phenolic compounds (bisphenols) and printing inks containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  The goal of the Safer Products for Washington program is to “keep harmful chemicals out of homes, workplaces, schools, and the environment.”

Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) has issued a draft update to its Toxics in Packaging Model Legislation that includes the addition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates as regulated chemicals. The draft update also proposes new processes for identifying additional chemicals of high concern in packaging.  TPCH is seeking comments from the public regarding the draft update until August 24, 2020, as detailed below.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) published a report on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).  The report, titled, Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Perfluorooctanoic Acid Administered in Feed to Sprague Dawley (Hsd:Sprague Dawley SD) Rats, May 2020, concludes that 2-year feeding studies provided clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of PFOA in male rats and some evidence of carcinogenicity of PFOA in female rats.

Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark plan to propose a joint REACH restriction to limit the manufacture and use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). As a preliminary step, the national authorities of these countries have issued a request for data on the products and mixtures containing PFAS currently being used and produced in the European Union, and products using alternatives to PFAS. The call for data is open until July 31, 2020.

Washington State’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) will hold a webinar on Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in food packaging on April 14, 2020.

As concern about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continues to grow due, in part, to their prevalence in the environment, actions to limit or ban their use often extends to food packaging. For example, the use of PFAS in food packaging for military meals ready-to-eat (MREs) is prohibited after October 1, 2021. Additionally, several bills have been introduced in Congress that include bans on use of PFAS in food packaging and containers.