On May 20, California’s Assembly approved legislation (AB 652) to ban companies from intentionally adding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to children’s products such as mattresses, playpens, and highchairs. Electronic products like game consoles, personal computers, and calculators would be exempt.
The bill would prohibit products containing 100 parts per million or more of PFAS, a family of more than 5,000 compounds that are used to make consumer products stain-, grease- and water-resistant. The CDC has linked PFA exposure to reduced birth weight in infants, decreased efficacy of vaccines in children, and increased probability of developing certain cancers. The bill now moves to California’s Senate for consideration.