PFAS are everywhere. Manufacturers have been using “forever chemicals” for their durability and resistance to heat and water, adding them in countless everyday products for decades, such as cell phones, laptops, medical devices, textiles and food packaging.
Up until the late 1990s, the chemicals were seen as an innovative breakthrough. That began to change when attorney Robert Bilott and the late Wilbur Earl Tennant accused chemical manufacturer DuPont de Nemours of dumping what the company already knew to be harmful contaminants from its Washington Works facility into multiple public water systems in West Virginia and southeastern Ohio.
In the decades since, a wave of lawsuits and regulatory actions have been unleashed against the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and the companies that produce them, with states taking the lead to pass laws banning and restricting forever chemicals. States like Minnesota are also enacting legislation mandating manufacturers to publicly report their use of PFAS.
California, Maine and Minnesota have taken the strictest actions to restrict the use of fluorochemicals, but other states are following suit. Minnesota and others are also enacting legislation mandating manufacturers publicly report their use of PFAS.
Manufacturing Dive is tracking the status of bills related to PFAS oversight and use during states' legislative sessions in 2025 and beyond, with updates to be added over time. Read on for the status and details of each bill.
Have an update on a bill? Email [email protected].
Methodology
This tracker includes pending bills related to PFAS and manufacturing that have passed at least one chamber of state legislature. Manufacturing Dive examined the Safer States Bill Tracker, the NCSL State Legislature Calendar and state legislature websites to determine bills to include.
