RECENT passage of Democratic legislation prohibiting the sale of many commonly used consumer products with toxic forever chemicals is a huge step forward for Granite Staters. We use products in our everyday lives without knowing if manufacturers have added PFAS to them. Most of us have a cocktail of PFAS chemicals in our bodies. The risks of PFAS are so great and the toxicity is so high, it is measured in parts per trillion.
Who wants to use PFAS-added products considering the long-term negative health risks, and knowing that PFAS contaminate our drinking water and our environment?
After years of hard work, New Hampshire has finally taken action to begin halting unchecked PFAS use. By passing HB 1649 in 2027, children’s products, cosmetics, food packaging, feminine hygiene products, carpets, textile treatments and furnishings, and upholstered furniture with intentionally added PFAS can no longer be sold here.
Few issues have united our municipalities, drinking water and wastewater treatment utilities, the solid waste industry, public health officials, environmental and citizen advocates, to speak with one voice as they did in support of HB 1649. This rare, broad, bipartisan coalition came together to call for a reduction in PFAS use. This Democratic initiative is a landmark victory for New Hampshire and I am grateful to have partnered with so many to see it through.
For years, we have struggled with rampant industrial PFAS contamination, such as that of Merrimack’s St-Gobain and at Pease Airforce Base. While certainly not as extensive, PFAS are found far beyond industrial sites because of widespread use. PFAS exposure is virtually unavoidable.
PFAS persist in our air, ground and surface waters, wildlife, plants and soil and in us. They do not degrade, are highly mobile and can bioaccumulate. PFAS can increase our risk of cancer, organ damage and problems in pregnancy. They have even been found in breast milk and the blood of newborns.
Remediation is extraordinarily difficult and expensive. New Hampshire has spent more than $110 million dealing with PFAS contamination. And costs are escalating.
Recently, the EPA issued long overdue drinking water standards. Even though they apply only to a handful of PFAS chemicals out of thousands, our drinking water utilities still must spend millions to remove them to keep us safe.
Our wastewater treatment plants receive PFAS-laden landfill leachate from our trash, industrial and sewer waste, and septage from private septic tanks. Through processing, many PFAS contaminants go into sludge, much of which is returned to landfills or incinerated, while other PFAS go into surface waters. No law requires pre-treatment.
When asked recently when such rules would be proposed, an EPA representative responded: soon. Pre-treatment costs will be immense.
We know drinking water facilities work hard filtering PFAS from our public water supply. What about PFAS contamination in our private wells? In our leach fields? Risks continually emerge. Why should we bear the brunt of the damage to our health and environment? The answer all leads in one direction — stop using PFAS.
Minnesota research indicates that over the next 20 years removing and destroying PFAS from the state’s waste water and sludge will cost $14 to $28 billion. Researchers estimate that one pound of PFAS costing from $15 to $1,000 can cost from $3 to 18 million to remediate. Work continues, but to date, no reasonable, effective way to destroy PFAS exists. It’s time to turn off the PFAS spigot.
In 2020, New Hampshire led the country by banning PFAS use in firefighting foam. Thankfully, many states have followed. Many have also banned PFAS use in the same consumer products we are banning, plus additional products. Now we join these states in ensuring reduction of PFAS use.
Granite Staters have the right to trust the products they buy. HB 1649’s passage is a major, commonsense step to protect our health and our irreplaceable New Hampshire natural resources. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we walk on, and we should be free of forever chemicals. We deserve nothing less.