People are rightly alarmed about PFAS, or Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, in the environment. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down over time in the environment, even when incinerated. They are found in thousands of consumer products and have spread throughout our environment contaminating water, soil, and plants, wildlife, and humans.  Susan Eastwood Most Americans now have PFAS in their body. They are found in blood, breast milk, and even umbilical cord blood of newborn babies. Exposures to PFAS are linked to testicular and kidney cancer, liver damage, hormone disruption, increases in cholesterol, thyroid disruption, asthma, reproductive disorders including infertility, and  low birth weight, even when exposure is at levels in the parts per trillion. More than 2,800 sites in all 50 states are contaminated by PFAS, forcing states and localities to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on cleaning up PFAS pollution in their communities and providing safe drinking water for their residents. In Connecticut, limited testing has found PFAS in wells, school drinking water and in several rivers. The Farmington, Shetucket, and Hockanum rivers have fish consumption advisories due to PFAS contamination. Connecticut became a national leader when we banned PFAS in firefighting foam and food packaging — two major sources of contamination. It is important to pass funding for more testing and remediation (which failed to pass last legislative session). But because cleanup is so difficult and expensive, the best way to address these ubiquitous chemicals is to take them out of consumer goods. Credit: City of Riverside, California Earlier this month, the federal EPA announced new, stricter rules on the amount of PFAS allowable in drinking water. This is a positive step to protect our water from some of the PFAS chemicals, but will not stop further contamination. The Connecticut General Assembly is now considering Senate Bill 292, An Act Concerning the Use of PFAS in Certain Products. SB 292 would prohibit the use of PFAS chemicals in apparel; carpets or rugs; cleaning products; cookware; cosmetics; dental floss; fabric treatments; children’s products; menstruation products; textile furnishings; ski wax; or upholstered furniture. This bill will go a long way to “turn off the tap” of toxic PFAS chemicals and will protect Connecticut’s public health and environment. More information is here. Please urge your state senator and representative to pass this bill into law this session. Susan Eastwood of Ashford is Chapter Chair of the Sierra Club Connecticut. Related Stories: CT targets 3M, DuPont and others over PFAS pollution in water More CT towns are finding PFAS in their water supplies CT’s public water systems may soon need to treat for PFAS