SACRAMENTO – The California Legislature has approved SB 682 to further phase out the unnecessary use of PFAS chemicals and provide safer and healthier communities throughout California.

“PFAS pose a level of serious risks that require us to take a measured approach to reduce their proliferation and unnecessary use throughout the marketplace,” said Senator Allen. “With SB 682, California can take another strong step toward responsibly phasing out these toxins to prioritize our health and wellbeing over corporate profits.”

PFAS chemicals are found in every part of the world around us—including our own bodies and the food and water we consume. They are called “forever chemicals” because they may take hundreds to thousands of years to break down in the environment.

PFAS have been found to cause serious health conditions such as cancer, decreased fertility, liver and kidney disease, and developmental harm. These dangers are not limited to the use of products containing PFAS, but the manufacturing process also results in pollution harmful to our public health and the environment as well.

Local governments, water districts, and sanitation agencies have all advocated for stronger PFAS regulations because of the burdens these chemicals pose on their infrastructure. Federal and state laws require certain water quality standards to be met for residents—standards which are often interfered with by the proliferation of the dangerous toxins. Cleaning PFAS from water and sanitation infrastructure has become much more difficult and costly over the years, and these costs are passed to ratepayers.

California already prohibits unnecessary PFAS use in textiles, certain juvenile products, fire-fighting foam, cosmetics, and more. SB 682 advances our efforts to phase out the use of unnecessary PFAS by prohibiting the sale and distribution of six new product categories that contain intentionally added PFAS, including cookware, food packaging, juvenile products, dental floss, cleaning products, and ski wax. Importantly, safer, PFAS-free options are already widely available and accessible on the market for each of these products.

Other states across the nation have already demonstrated feasibility by enacting their own prohibitions on each product addressed in SB 682. The bill also provides a delayed on ramp, beginning in 2030 for cookware, 2031 for certain components of cleaning products, and 2028 for all other products.

SB 682 is supported by environmental groups, public health advocates, and local governments. The bill is now on the Governor’s desk for a possible signature to become law.

What others are saying

“Today, the California legislature took an important step to protect the health and drinking water of the state’s nearly 40 million residents from toxic ‘forever’ chemicals,” said Avinash Kar, Senior Director of Toxics for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “California’s action will also help move the broader market towards safer alternatives beyond the state, moving us away from these unnecessary uses of harmful chemicals.”

"SB 682's passing is a major win for both California's consumers and for its water supplies,” said Andria Ventura, Legislative and Policy Director for Clean Water Action. “By banning PFAS in these six product categories the state is taking an important step in stopping these toxic chemicals from getting into our drinking water. Thank you Senator Allen for authoring this important bill."

“No one should be exposed to toxic PFAS just by cooking a meal or cleaning their home,” said Susan Little, California Legislative Director at the Environmental Working Group. “Phasing out these hazardous chemicals from products like cookware and cleaners is a smart, science-based step to protect public health. We applaud Senator Allen for leading the charge to ban these nonessential uses of PFAS by removing them from products where safer alternatives already exist.”

“California has a critical opportunity to protect the health of millions from the dangers of PFAS by passing SB 682,” said Suzanne Price, CEO at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. “These toxic substances—found in products as common as cookware, cleaning products, food packaging, juvenile products, and even dental floss—are linked to serious harms, including breast cancer, the leading cancer among women in California. For decades, chemical companies hid the truth about PFAS toxicity, using the same playbook as Big Tobacco to protect profits at the expense of public health. We now know that virtually all of us regrettably carry PFAS in our bodies, and Californians are paying the price—drinking, inhaling, and ingesting PFAS regularly, which increases disease risk. SB 682 takes a commonsense approach by phasing out unnecessary PFAS in products we use every single day. We urge Governor Newsom to sign this bill into law and put public health first. Californians deserve protection from these harmful chemicals—not another generation of exposure.”

“We commend the Legislature for the passage of SB 682 and want to thank the sponsor, authors and broad coalition of supporters from across the state,” said Adam Link, Executive Director at California Association of Sanitation Agencies. “This is a common sense source control measure that protects public health and the environment by keeping PFAS out of our water and wastewater systems.”