Using toxic chemicals in packaging is nonsensical in so many ways. Consumers are exposed when they leach into the products that contain them, especially our food. These chemicals make packaging non-recyclable or compostable, adding to our solid waste problems. These toxins also end up released into drinking water and other parts of the environment both when they are put into products and when those products are eventually landfilled.
That’s why Clean Water Action is co-sponsoring AB 2671, The Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act (Hart/Lowenthal), which will ban PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PFAS in plastic packaging in California.
PVC and PFAS are considered “the worst of the worst” of problematic chemicals found in plastic packaging. They have been linked to a wide range of health problems, including cancers, reproductive and neurological harm, and impaired immunity. Recent scientific studies have clearly shown that both PFAS and PVC are commonly used in plastic food packaging and leach into the products they contain. We are then re-exposed when the chemicals leach into drinking water or other parts of the environment throughout their lifecycle.
The good news is that neither PVC or PFAS are necessary in plastic packaging. In fact, a consortium of major retailers, manufacturers, local governments and NGOs called the US Plastics Pact has listed PVC and PFAS on their list of problematic and unnecessary chemicals in packaging and are working to eradicate their use by 2025.
AB 2671 is common sense. We have many safer and effective packaging alternatives, and PFAS and PVC are poisoning us and our environment. Help us get this bill passed in California. Contact your Assemblymember today!
