California Bans PFAS in Textile Articles and Cosmetics

By Chelsea Lane, regulatory specialist, Supply Chain team, UL Solutions 

On Sept. 29, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bills 1817 and 2771 into law. Both of these Bills place bans on Perfluoroalkyl and Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in California and will be added into the state's Health and Safety Code. 

AB 1817 restricts the manufacture, distribution and sale of PFAS in textile articles in the state. This law is similar to the PFAS bans in existing California law regarding food packaging and juvenile products. 

The Bill defines PFAS as "a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom." It further defines regulated PFAS as either of the following:

"(1) PFAS that a manufacturer has intentionally added to a product and that have a functional or technical effect in the product, including the PFAS components of intentionally added chemicals and PFAS that are intentional breakdown products of an added chemical that also have a functional or technical effect in the product.

(2) The presence of PFAS in a product or product component at or above the following thresholds, as measured in total organic fluorine:
(A) Commencing Jan. 1, 2025, 100 parts per million.
(B) Commencing Jan. 1, 2027, 50 parts per million."

The term textiles refers to items made from natural, manmade, or synthetic fiber, yarn, or fabric and include apparel, curtains, upholstery and bedding, etc. Items that are not regulated under this Bill include single-use hygiene products and other articles such as carpets, rugs, boat covers, and architectural fabric covers. Please refer to the regulation for the full list of textile articles that are not included.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, textile articles containing regulated PFAS cannot be sold, manufactured, or distributed, unless specifically exempted. One specific exemption is for "outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions" which have until Jan. 1, 2028 to remove PFAS from these products. Manufacturers shall use the least toxic alternative when replacing the regulated PFAS in their textile articles, and they must provide distributers in California with a "certificate of compliance” which states that the product is in compliance with this chapter and does not contain any regulated PFAS.

AB 2771 bans the manufacture, sale, delivery, or offer for sale of any cosmetic product that contains intentionally added PFAS beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. This Bill is similar to AB 2762 which was approved in September 2020 and prohibits 13 specific PFAS from cosmetic products as well as 11 other intentionally added ingredients. However, the definition of PFAS in AB 2771 is not limited to a specific group of named substances. Rather, it defines the banned group of substances in the same way as the other recently approved bills: a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

Please see UL Solutions’ previously published news article for information on PFAS bans in other states. The ChemADVISOR^® Regulatory Database will continue to be updated as new information becomes available.

References

AB-1817 regarding textile articles
AB-2771 regarding cosmetics