Read the full article by Michael Booth (Colorado Sun)
“Colorado legislators want to close loopholes in a ban on ‘forever chemicals’ in many consumer products that was passed in 2022, saying the cost to filter out PFAS is overwhelming water treatment agencies and other states have moved faster in regulation.
Senate Bill 81 would add everything from kitchen cookware to dental floss to tampons to the ban on sales in Colorado beginning Jan. 1, and require labeling of rain gear with PFAS until a full ban would kick in for 2028. Gasoline distributors, refineries and other chemical plants would also lose their exemption for using firefighting foam with PFAS.
Runoff of firefighting foam into water sources has been one of the most widespread paths for contamination with the ‘forever chemicals,’ which are linked to a variety of human health problems and detectable in the bloodstream of all Americans.
‘If we don’t set a line somewhere, what incentive is there for corporations to make a change, to really dig in and investigate alternative methods and make that switch?’ said Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, a prime sponsor of the bill along with Reps. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, and Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City. ‘We feel like we’ve given a long enough ramp up, because the writing’s been on the wall for a lot of years. And it’s time that we draw the line in the sand and say we are better than this.'” …