California’s restrictions on ‘forever chemicals’ PFAS in products are effective, study says

California’s industry-leading restrictions on toxic chemicals in consumer products lowered the population’s body levels for many dangerous substances linked to cancer, birth defects, reproductive harm and other serious health problems.

New peer-reviewed research showed that levels in residents’ blood had fallen for 37 chemicals. The authors analyzed these after the substances were designated under Proposition 65, which regulates toxic chemicals in consumer goods.

Among the levels that dropped were highly toxic PFAS “forever chemicals,” flame retardants, diesel chemicals, phthalates and bisphenol.

The findings come as the federal government faces increasing criticism for not doing enough to rein in toxic chemicals in consumer goods. The paper’s authors say their findings suggest regulations work.

“It suggests a tangible public health benefit from the state’s stricter environmental regulations,” said Claudia Polsky, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law, and co-author of the study.

Researchers mainly looked at chemicals that fall under the directive Proposition 65which was implemented in 1986. Companies selling products in California must warn consumers if the goods contain harmful chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.

About 850 chemicals are designated under the law. The article compared data for 37 Prop 65 chemicals, or other compounds closely related to those designated for this purpose, for which federal regulators also track levels in the bodies of the U.S. population.

Median levels decreased for several PFAS, which are among the most common and dangerous man-made substances. PFOS and N-MeFOSAA, two PFAS compounds, fell 77%, and PFOA levels fell 62% – the levels are lower than national medians. Meanwhile, median bisphenol-A (BPA) concentrations fell 15% after the designation.

Although people in California showed lower levels in many cases than the rest of the US, the law’s benefits may not be limited to California: Levels of toxic chemicals in people’s bodies often dropped across the state and across the US in the years after the chemicals. ‘ Prop 65 designation, which suggests companies reformulate products to avoid the compounds.

However, the authors cautioned that the drop in body levels may not be due to Prop 65 alone. Although levels for phthalates, a common plasticizer, fell in California, this coincided with an effort by other states and the federal government to reduce the use of certain plasticizers. of the connections.

The study also found evidence that companies were swapping one toxic chemical for another problematic chemical with a similar chemical structure and health effects. BPA levels fell after it was designated, but levels of a related compound, bisphenol S (BPS), rose 20% over the same period.

Similarly, levels of the phthalate DEHP, used in vinyl and other plastic products, fell after it was listed in 2003. At the same time, exposure to a closely related, unlisted phthalate called DiNP increased. DiNP’s levels subsequently fell after it was also listed on the stock exchange in 2013.

The substitution “undermines the net health benefits of some chemical-specific restrictions and illustrates the need for chemical policies that consider groups of closely related chemicals as classes,” the study authors wrote.