Advocates worry about inaction on PFAS proposal

Forever chemicals bill’s lack of progress keeps citizens at risk

While it's been nearly two months since a bill banning PFAS or "forever chemicals" in consumer products passed the House, the Senate has yet to take any action on the proposal, making advocates worry this legislation will not make it to the governor's desk before the elections.

Proposed by Democratic Rep. Greg Scott, the PFAS ban has only 12 sessions left to be passed by the Senate before Nov 30. All unpassed legislation after that date will lose its current progress and need to be reintroduced.

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, are used in a wide range of everyday products, from baby diapers to menstrual products to cookware and are engineered to last "forever."

Due to their ability to withstand deterioration, these chemicals can remain in a person's body for years, and can increase their risk for thyroid disease, liver disease, and even cancer.

Steve Hvozdovich, the Pennsylvania campaigns director of Clean Water Action, hopes the Senate will take these concerns seriously, but noted that there has been a history of willful blindness on this issue.

"Companies have known that these products have the potential to be toxic and cause health related problems," Hvozdovich said, citing uncovered documents dating back to the 1970s. "The companies chose to turn a blind eye to it because it is cheaper for them."

Currently, manufacturers are not required to reveal whether forever chemicals were used in producing their products and even businesses that advertise "PFAS-free" options can be misleading.

Clean Water & Conservation Advocate Stephanie Wein has observed that manufacturers will often market themselves as "PFOS-free," a singular chemical under the PFAS umbrella, in order to win consumer trust without truly changing their production practices.

"Consumers assume that they're free of all those harmful chemicals, but that's actually one chemical out of a thousand similar harmful chemicals," Wein said.

While vigilance to detail can keep consumers from making this mistake, Wein argued that shoppers should not have to extensively research whether their nonstick pan will poison them or not.

Other states seem to agree and have already passed bans, but Pennsylvania has continued to hold out; a decision that may dangerously impact the market.

"If you're a national company and you can't sell PFAS containing products in Minnesota or Maine, you're going to sell them somewhere," Wein said. "So, we're going to be a PFAS dumping market if we get behind protecting ourselves."

Democratic Sen. Lisa Boscola, however, maintains the interest of Pennsylvania business cannot be disregarded. She is the minority chair of the Senate committee currently considering the bill.

"We're gonna have to be mindful of the manufacturers," Boscola said. "They're gonna make a big deal out of it."

Boscola claimed that the Senate's inaction on the bill during June and July was to be expected and predicted that the bill may not receive their attention until closer to the deadline.

"Everybody was focused on the budget so hardly any bills were moving in that time frame," she said. "I can see it [the bill] getting legs moving forward in the fall."

With nothing really decided yet, advocates remain concerned that pressure by manufacturing lobbyists and quiet avoidance by the Senate will successfully keep any ban from taking place.

"We look like a dysfunctional government if things that have such overwhelming bipartisan support can't actually make it over the finish line," Hvozdovich said. "It's time for Senate majority leader, Pitman, to actually put the word leader back into his title and take up this bill."