The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced the release of a draft document that describes proposed Public Health Goals (PHGs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water.

A South Korean study published on June 25, 2021 in Food and Chemical Toxicology reported the results of overall and specific migration testing of various food contact plastic materials using food simulants. The data indicate that the minimal migration of evaluated substances from plastic food packaging and their corresponding dietary concentrations pose no significant human health or safety concerns.

New laws in Connecticut and Vermont ban the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. In Connecticut, the ban becomes effective December 31, 2023, and in Vermont the effective date is July 1, 2023. Both laws define PFAS as fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

Massachusetts and California have pending bills that would impact the use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cookware.

The Washington Department of Ecology (DoE) released a draft document that outlines the definitions for the specific food packaging applications and alternatives it plans to use in the second Alternative Assessment (AA) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. By way of background, the state’s Toxics in Packaging Law includes a ban on PFAS in food packaging two years after safer alternatives are identified (RCW 70A.222.070). 

Washington state has announced that, based on the availability of safer alternatives, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in four types of food packaging will be banned as of February 2023. By way of background, the state’s Toxics in Packaging Law was amended in 2018 to include a ban on PFAS in food packaging that would become effective in January 2022 if safer alternatives were identified by January 2020.

The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) revised its Model Toxics in Packaging Legislation in February 2021. The revised model legislation includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates as regulated chemicals, and establishes new processes for identifying additional packaging chemicals of high concern. The model legislation has no legal effect, but the prior version of the model legislation was enacted – in some form – in 19 states.

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) recently released a draft of its third priority product work plan under its Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program covering the period of 2021-2023.  The goal of the Safer Consumer Products Regulations is “to create safer substitutes for hazardous ingredients in consumer products sold in California.”

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a draft report that identifies food packaging substances proposed for listing under Maine’s Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging law. This law, adopted in 2019 as an amendment to Maine’s Toxic Chemicals in Packaging statute, requires DEP to publish a list of no more than ten food contact chemicals of high concern to gather information on whether they are currently used in food packaging in Maine and to evaluate the possibility of safer alternatives.

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.