States Are Banning Forever Chemicals. Industry Is Fighting Back (wired.com) 69
New Mexico's legislature passed bills last week that would ban consumer products containing PFAS, joining a small but growing number of states taking action against these persistent "forever chemicals." If signed by the governor, the legislation would prohibit the sale of many products with added per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in New Mexico, making it the third state after Maine and Minnesota to enact such comprehensive restrictions.
At least 29 states have PFAS-related bills before state legislatures this year, according to Safer States, a network of advocacy organizations. Research shows PFAS accumulate in the environment and human bodies, potentially causing health problems from high cholesterol to cancer. EPA figures indicate almost half of Americans are exposed to PFAS in their drinking water.
Wired reports that chemical and consumer products industries are aggressively fighting state-level bans on "forever chemicals" through lobbying and legal action as regulations spread across the United States. The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, formed in 2024 by major cookware manufacturers, has testified in 10 statehouses against PFAS restrictions and sued Minnesota in January, claiming its ban is unconstitutional. (The New Mexico bills include notable exemptions, particularly for fluoropolymers used in nonstick cookware, following successful lobbying by industry groups.)
Industry groups are also targeting federal regulators, with the American Chemistry Council and others recommending the EPA adopt a narrower definition of PFAS. "The federal regulatory approach is preferable to a patchwork of different and potentially conflicting state approaches," said Erich Shea from the American Chemistry Council.
At least 29 states have PFAS-related bills before state legislatures this year, according to Safer States, a network of advocacy organizations. Research shows PFAS accumulate in the environment and human bodies, potentially causing health problems from high cholesterol to cancer. EPA figures indicate almost half of Americans are exposed to PFAS in their drinking water.
Wired reports that chemical and consumer products industries are aggressively fighting state-level bans on "forever chemicals" through lobbying and legal action as regulations spread across the United States. The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, formed in 2024 by major cookware manufacturers, has testified in 10 statehouses against PFAS restrictions and sued Minnesota in January, claiming its ban is unconstitutional. (The New Mexico bills include notable exemptions, particularly for fluoropolymers used in nonstick cookware, following successful lobbying by industry groups.)
Industry groups are also targeting federal regulators, with the American Chemistry Council and others recommending the EPA adopt a narrower definition of PFAS. "The federal regulatory approach is preferable to a patchwork of different and potentially conflicting state approaches," said Erich Shea from the American Chemistry Council.
See If You Can Find... (Score:2)
...your Coke and Pepsi in glass bottles again, or kids to go out and clean up the roads for 10 cents a bottle when returning them!
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...your Coke and Pepsi in glass bottles again, or kids to go out and clean up the roads for 10 cents a bottle when returning them!
I take it you don't know what per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances are?
A hint, they are not the plastic that soft drink bottles are made out of.
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Many of the readers here still remember the glassware age, grandson. Now, get off my lawn.
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Have you looked at the affected (almost everything) products? The only reason that soft drink "pop" bottles aren't listed is because the "We're against everything modern" protesters haven't gotten around to figuring out what to whine about with them.
We'll get glass Coke and Pepsi back, just a matter of time. And it'll be better even if it did almost cut off half my foot when I was a little kid and stepped on a broken one. The protestors (protesting is so easy...) will rejoice.
We'll be cutting bamboo s
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No it's because those bottles aren't made of fluoropolymers, and this bill is able fluorinated organic compounds, specifically those work more than one fluorine.
Re:See If You Can Find... (Score:4, Insightful)
If people stopped drinking water, soda, etc. from plastic bottles, their intake of microplastic particles would drop 90%.
Also, there is nothing good about sugar or artificial sweeteners regardless of the container. Just stop poisoning yourself.
Water from the tap (perhaps run through an activated charcoal filter is the absolute best for you and the environment.
Re: See If You Can Find... (Score:2)
"If people stopped drinking water, soda, etc. from plastic bottles, their intake of microplastic particles would drop 90%."
[c n]
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Google it
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You can't do that just by personally not using them, we have to do it systemically
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Cool and I agree. Lets systematically outlaw plastic bottles.
Back to glass we go. recyclable and don't add microplastics to our bodies.
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Fine with me. We need to reuse and not just recycle the glass, though, because of the energy cost. It takes nearly as much energy to recycle the bottles as to make new ones. We should still do that because sand is, if not finite, at least rate-limited.
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If people stopped drinking water, soda, etc. from plastic bottles, their intake of microplastic particles would drop 90%.
But the article under discussion isn't about microplastic particles. It's about PFAS.
Re: See If You Can Find... (Score:2)
New Mexico (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't it called New America now?
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Trump mandates forever chemicals. Next up: #LegaliseAsbestos
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Trump mandates forever chemicals. Next up: #LegaliseAsbestos
Asbestos, the Miracle Mineral? Here's a suggested slogan:
'murica - we put the "best" in asbestos.
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Can't. That's Canadian.
(Asbestos, Quebec was home to the largest asbestos mine in the world, making Canada one of the largest asbestos exporters. They changed their name in 2020 to Val-de-Sources, because of the association).
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Nope, but we might rename it to 'Better Mexico"
Cast Iron (Score:5, Informative)
Putting aside the legality of it, if you want safe nonstick; get cast iron. It only takes a little bit of adjustment, but then it works as well if not better than any non-stick pans out there.
The biggest hurdle is comfort/education, but once you've got it it's pretty simple. And they last forever; I'm only half joking when I tell my daughter that my cast iron pans are her inheritance.
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This is what I did. They're basically indestructible and once I learned how they worked, I haven't needed anything else. They also seem to be easier to clean than the old nonstick pans. Oh, and they give you a little extra iron in your food.
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Steel wool goes brrrrr
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One cast iron pan literally split in half on my induction cooktop. It went back to Costco. Last piece of cast iron I ever owned. Also, I abhor things that are not dishwasher safe.
The good news is that there are alternatives to nonstick cookware made using PFAS. Stainless steel cookware works just as well, without PFAS.
The main downside of stainless steel is that it's heavier and more expensive than aluminum cookware made with PFAS. However, aluminum already doesn't work on induction, so it's not like it was
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I have and use cast iron, sometimes. how do you clean it but keep the layer of "seasoning" / grease on it after cleaning?
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Why? Teflon is safe. The health risk comes from short-chain PFAS, not from such long-chain ones.
The health risk from Teflon also comes from overheating one's cookware releasing toxic fumes. Mmmm... Teflon Flu.
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also flaking and digesting.
But since it was labeled as not edible they never had to test the impacts of swallowing it.
Re: Cast Iron (Score:3)
The manufacture of Teflon is not safe.
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You can't even make fertilizer without deadly NH3.
Re:Cast Iron (Score:5, Insightful)
Putting aside the legality of it, if you want safe nonstick; get cast iron. It only takes a little bit of adjustment, but then it works as well if not better than any non-stick pans out there.
This has not been my experience. One pan does not hold a seasoning. My other cast iron pan is fairly nonstick but sticky and unpleasant to touch, since too much effort goes into avoiding rust or degrading the seasoning. Plus it's so heavy that it's very hard to wash. My wrists aren't strong enough to deal with it on a regular basis. Lastly, when food does burn, it tends to ruin the seasoning because the residue needs to be scrubbed off. Lastly for real, it always burns food when used on induction cookers since the ring of heat is more focused than a flame and even a quite heavy cast iron pan conducts heat poorly.
I use laminated stainless steel pans with a cooking spray (which must contain lecithin as the nonstick agent). Is there any reason to use nonstick over laminated stainless steel? The teflon/aluminum pans are cheaper, but that doesn't necessarily justify the use of forever chemicals.
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I would say that for eggs in particular, you really cant beat a straight up Teflon pan, even the cheap $6 ones at Ikea. Absolutely with some practice and enough lubrication you can pull off a french omelette in cast or stainless for sure but with a teflon it's just pretty bulletproof, those eggs can just slide around. That's about the only thing I can think of though.
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I used to think that as well. Then I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P... [amazon.com]
It's easily ~90-95% as good as Teflon
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Sure but cmon man we all know Teflon is a colloquial for any nonstick coated pan
You can talk to me like we're both people alive speaking english in 2025
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No, it really isn't. You could say Teflon is a colloquial for any PFAS coated pan. But it's 100% not equivalent to any nonstick pan. Non-PFAS ceramic is a alternative to Teflon that dodges alot of the health concerns.
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I bought a cast iron almost 20 years ago, and I'll admit; I was a noob with it. So my first dish, right out of the gate, were scrambled eggs. On the factory seasoning, at an undoubtedly too high of a temp.
Of course the eggs made a huge mess.
Since then I've learned how to season and maintain the seasoning on my pans, and I've learned what fats to use with eggs ( avocado oil preferentially, ghee works too ), and most importantly; how to control the temp. Given the way cast iron heats up it is extremely eas
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One pan does not hold a seasoning. My other cast iron pan is fairly nonstick but sticky and unpleasant to touch
when seasoning/oiling the pan, make sure the pan is very hot and wipe away excess oil. use an oil with a high smoke point, like grapeseed.
sticky = too much oil. you need to burn it off; throw in full-temp oven for 1hr minimum. keep your windows open.
properly seasoned cast iron is smooth and not sticky (though unpolished cast iron-which is most these day-will never be 100% smooth).
creating a good uniform seasoning takes practice, experimentation, and diligence. it is not effortless.
but eggs will not sti
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The fact that your instructions don't apply to my living situation or my pans is an indication that cast iron is a giant pain (not for everybody, but for a significant portion of people/pots).
I'm sure this is great advice for a combination of some pans, some ovens, and some cooktops. Of course I've tried all of this. It's not really productive to explain why each point doesn't work, but for example my big pan doesn't fit in what's considered a normal sized oven in my city.
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get cast iron
- Doesn't really tolerate dishwasher
- Even when handwashing, need to be extra careful, first scrub and then put in a protective coating of oil
- Non-sticky only if you absolutely flood it in cooking oil or grease, and even then it's borderline. Unless you have really exact temperature controls (gas/induction), you cannot even fry an egg without leaving bits behind
I use cast iron *only* when cooking on open fire, but for anything else, there are PFAS-free non-sticky options. See e.g. https://heir [heirol.fi]
Ceramic (Score:4, Informative)
Another option is ceramic. Just as non-stick as teflon, or better even. No PFAS.
However they are a little more expensive.
However, for the average consumer, spending a little bit more on better quality and better designed things means that you don't have to buy as many of them, and thus that pays off in the end.
Neither ceramic nor teflon are supposed to be used with metal utensils though. If you want to use a metal spatula: get cast iron!
These days there are lighter cast-iron pans than there used to be.
I use cast iron most of the time myself. As long as you treat it right, it stays non-stick. If seasoned, you can rinse it off under the tap just fine.
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Better than cast iron in many ways is carbon steel.
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The biggest hurdle is comfort/education
There's far more to it than that. Cast Iron needs to be properly maintained, and describing the weight of it as "comfort" is strong male privilege. My wife can barely lift our cast iron pan, let alone flip a pancake one handed in it. Honestly I can't easily flip things in it either. I'm a computer nerd not a professional bodybuilder.
There's a use for both.
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The current biggest hurdle is the current EPA who never saw a pollutant they couldn't get behind....it turns out all those campaign donations buy more than votes.
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It's funny, I switched to using stainless steel years ago and then realized that non-stick pan manufacturers were clearly lying to create a market; They don't really serve a purpose unless you also decide to not use oil or butter to lubricate the pan. I don't ever have a problem with stuff sticking to a degree that ruins the dish. As a matter of fact, a little bit of sticking is good, frond adds flavor.
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Putting aside the legality of it, if you want safe nonstick; get cast iron. It only takes a little bit of adjustment, but then it works as well if not better than any non-stick pans out there.
The biggest hurdle is comfort/education, but once you've got it it's pretty simple. And they last forever; I'm only half joking when I tell my daughter that my cast iron pans are her inheritance.
I'd mod you up if I could. I have a full set of cast iron cookware that was forged in 1888. It was a wedding present to my great-grandmother from her mother-in-law -- in 1892. She gave it to her daughter, who gave it to her daughter, and it ended up in my hands when my mom passed. I've been lugging all 40kgs of it around the planet for decades now, and I will pass it along when I shuffle off this mortal coil. Nothing beats cast iron for cooking.
States rights, until it costs too much (Score:4, Insightful)
This translates to: A US state will impose stricter regulation and it is expensive to politicize the issue. It's cheaper to bribe a few federal senators, instead of senators in each state.
"The federal regulatory approach is preferable" (Score:1)
always states rights until it’s not (Score:5, Insightful)
enuf said
Forever chemicals? (Score:4, Insightful)
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In a year? Maybe don't buy your non-sick pans from Aliexpress. Teflon is a superior coating to Chinesium. They will all eventually reduce their non-stickyness but I find that time is more over 10 years for any partially well made pan.
As for cast iron skillets, that's all good and fine if you're a professional bodybuilder, but we have cast iron at home, and while I like using it, the wife actively avoids it due to it being heavy and unwieldy to say nothing of not dishwasher safe.
Oh fun fact those 10 year old
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10 years, eh? I've never had them last that long. Ever. 3 or 4 years tops, and the coating is obviously and visually degrading over time. I never put them in the dishwasher. Doesn't matter what brand or price. Everyone I know has the same experience. Not sure why yours last so long. Clue us in as to where you buy your pans and who makes them.
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So you at least agree with me that 1 year is the realm of cheap (you get what you pay for) shit?
I just finished cooking with a 9 year old Tefal pan. Made in France. It is *starting* to loose its stick. On the flip side the back side of it shows massive corrosion damage to the aluminium lugs in the base (because of the aforementioned non-dishwasher-safeness.
That said I have killed one of those pans in 4 years. Those coatings do not like being overheated, so if it is discolouring a good sign is that it's all
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I've had them all over the years. Tefal included. Never lasted more than a few years. Never 9 or 10.
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You do realize that the non-stickyness that is gone means you ate it. So after x years you start to eat the teflon.
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Yeah, the last non-stick pan that I bought was over $100 (Scan-pan was the brand). It was toast within a year of daily careful use. I would always hand wash with a soft cloth and only used silicone or plastic utensils. Didn't matter, though. I now only use copper bottom stainless steel pots and pans and they are wonderful.
Chem. companies CEO at French parlement hearing: (Score:5, Interesting)
Hello,
I was recently listening to a hearing of international chemical companies CEO at the french parlement...
Some very interesting exchange happened there where representatives will ask questions.
One representative asked about "returning some manufacturing to France" for "strategic reasons". This included molecules for medicine and some needed base products...
Later on, another representative (ecologist) talked about PFAS...
One of the CEOs answered (and I paraphrase) :
"Fluor is an element that forms VERY strong bonds and anything that has, or use Fluor is, or decays, for all intent and purpose, into a "forever chemical".
Fluor is present in over 40% of the medicine that we talked about earlier. And will be used in the manufacturing of another 20% of it.
As an ecologist, you want products that last. Fluor is one of the main components to make product last. Remove it and you get "low grade" plastics that decay faster.
We understand that PFAS are not good, but having them has a measurably huge effect through products that could not be done without them and through the quality improvements that they allow on other.
I guess our job is to make products that allow manufacturing of other products, your job as citizen representative is to find the balance between different conflicting needs and wants. In this meeting we are trying to give you the information that will help you understand what is at stake.
".
Interestingly enough, this answer was kind of candid in the delivery (the guy was an old school CEO who went up the rank), and really hit the nail on the head highlighting the difficulties of making such decision and I hope that, in Mexio as in France politician will take the time to think hard and long before deciding where to place the cursor.
Cyrille
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Seems like it's a question of making the right plastics durable. If a product is only expected to last for weeks (e.g. shopping bags) then it doesn't need to be resistant to decay. If it's a bit of trim in a car that is expected to be around for 15+ years and experience extreme temperature swings, it is worth making it last.
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Re: Chem. companies CEO at French parlement hearin (Score:2)
Irony (Score:1)
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Like many things in life, it's complicated. Were there chemicals thought to be safe b/c they did not break down and were not particularly bioactive? Yes. Did people spray them all over place? In the case of fire fighting foams yes, and some of that material wound up in ground water and is difficult to remove. Does that mean all fluorine chemistry should be abandoned? That is t
Re: Irony (Score:2)
about time (Score:1)
charge a tax (Score:1)
Any time a chemical is found in the environment, charge them a penny a gram for every year it is present.