New York PFAS Regulations In Effect
By WRILEY NELSON
NEW YORK STATE
New state regulations banning the intentional use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in food packaging took effect on December 31, 2022. The Hazardous Packaging Act prohibits PFAS in paper or other plant-derived packaging materials that come in direct contact with food. The state Department of Environmental Conservation encourages food vendors to request a certificate of compliance from their packaging suppliers.
PFAS are a class of thousands of artificial chemicals characterized by extremely strong carbon-fluorine bonds. They do not readily bond with other substances and resist nearly all degradation processes. Since the 1940s, manufacturers have taken advantage of these properties to make products resistant to heat, oil and water. PFAS are common in non-stick cookware, water-resistant apparel, grease-resistant food packaging, toiletries and cosmetics, and paints. Today, PFAS are a billion-dollar market dominated by large corporations like DuPont, 3M and W. L. Gore & Associates.
In the 21st century, the health and environmental implications of widespread PFAS use have come under scrutiny. The characteristics that make PFAS valuable make them dangerous. They repel both oil and water and do not break down, allowing them to continuously build up in the environment or body. They are difficult to remove from water without large and expensive granular activated carbon filtration systems, and new evidence suggests they can travel through each stage of the water cycle. PFAS have been found in penguin eggs, polar bears and blood samples from people on every continent. A 2022 study in “Environmental Science and Technology” found that rainwater and soil worldwide “ubiquitously and often greatly” exceeded EPA and EU safe exposure standards for a number of PFAS.
These substances bioaccumulate and can disrupt hormone function. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found links between PFAS exposure and decreased immune response, high cholesterol, decreased fetal and infant weight and growth, and increased risk of kidney cancer. Other studies have demonstrated links to fertility problems, pregnancy-induced hypertension, liver damage, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and testicular cancer.
Several New York communities have experienced direct PFAS contamination. Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, both in Rensselaer County, had their water supplies contaminated by perfluorooctanoic acid from plastic manufacturing facilities. Hoosick Falls began testing its water supply in 2014 after residents reported alarmingly high cancer rates. PFOA concentrations as high as 18,000 parts per trillion were found in Hoosick Falls groundwater, and concentrations reached 130,000 ppt at the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics manufacturing site. The EPA sets the safe exposure limit for PFOA at 70 ppt. The Hoosick Falls Public Water supply successfully installed GAC filters, but this has no effect for rural residents with household water supplies.
This alarming history has made New York State a leader in PFAS regulation. In 2016, it became the first state to classify PFOA as a hazardous substance. In addition to the food packaging ban, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill in December of 2022 that will phase out PFAS in apparel by the end of 2023.