NRDC Publishes Case Studies Showing Ripple Effects of PFAS and Chemical Safety Policies

On October 7, 2026, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published an Expert Blog item entitled “When States Act, Markets Follow: The Ripple Effects of PFAS and Chemical Safety Policies.” NRDC draws from its work to present five cases showing how state policies are reducing exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other chemicals in consumer products beyond state borders. According to NRDC, in each case, states have enacted legislation to regulate PFAS or other harmful chemicals rather than focusing on specific chemicals within a class. NRDC states that “[t]his has meant a move away from the entire class of problematic chemicals versus previous shifts from one problematic chemical to close chemical cousins that re-created many of the original chemical’s problems.” The cases include:

• Phaseout of PFAS in textiles/apparel: In 2022, California passed a bill phasing out PFAS in textiles, including apparel, footwear, backpacks, and household textiles. New York passed a law phasing out PFAS in apparel, but not other textiles, that included similar language. NRDC testing “found a dramatic drop in the amount of PFAS in textile products after these laws in California and New York went into effect” in 2025.

• Phaseout of PFAS in firefighting foam: According to NRDC, following passage of a bill in California in 2019 that began phasing out uses in 2022, other states have adopted deadlines for phasing out use. NRDC states that “[t]he passage of the various state laws, combined with a federal law to phase out military uses of PFAS foams, Federal Aviation Administration action to allow the use of PFAS-free foams at airports, and [European Union (EU)] action to phase out firefighting foam, is resulting in a shift away from PFAS-based foams.”

• Phaseout of PFAS in paper-based food packaging: A dozen states have enacted bills to phase out PFAS in paper-based food packaging, including California and New York. According to NRDC, state action prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to announce in early 2024 that PFAS “are no longer being sold by manufacturers for food contact use.” FDA then announced in January 2025 that 35 food contact notifications associated with “substances containing PFAS in paper and paperboard food packaging are no longer effective,” as the manufacturers or suppliers ceased production, supply, or use of the food contact substances.

• Phaseout of toxic flame retardant chemicals in furniture, mattresses, and children’s products: Following the enactment of several bills in California that first no longer required the use of flame retardant chemicals, then required labels, and finally banned the chemicals, states such as New York and Maryland replicated the laws.

• Disclosure of ingredients used in cleaning products, including mandatory disclosure for chemicals of concern: In 2017, California enacted the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act requiring that ingredients be disclosed on labels and online.