As we welcome the fall season and pull out outdoor apparel, Clean Water Action remains focused on the fact that so many consumer products, including water and stain resistant clothing, contain toxic PFAS chemicals that are harmful to human health and the environment. This class of over 12,000 chemical variations are linked to kidney and testicular cancers, liver damage, reproductive disorders, high cholesterol and impaired immune function and because they don’t break down, they get into surface and groundwater sources that have contaminated drinking water all over the country, including some areas in Connecticut.
Clean Water Action continues to lead efforts to “turn off the tap” of these toxic chemicals. We passed nationally recognized laws to ban firefighting foam containing PFAS, as this is a large source of contamination. We also were one of the first states to ban PFAS in food packaging!
We’re also part of the national Mind the Store Campaign, urging major retailers to stop using PFAS in their products. With your help, McDonald’s, Burger King, Walmart, Lowes, Patagonia and many other chains have committed to remove PFAS from textiles, home furnishings, outdoor apparel and food packaging. This month, we delivered 130,000 signatures to REI, a large co-op outdoor gear store and spoke with staff at the West Hartford REI about the problem.
We’re making progress, thanks to you! But we must do more. As we prepare for the 2023 legislative session in CT, we’re urging policy makers to continue to lead the way in restricting PFAS in products, to ramp up monitoring of water sources and other at-risk sites around the state and to make sure that CT purchasing contracts restrict procurement of products containing these chemicals.
Safe alternatives exist so we must keep up the pressure! Can we count on you? Send a quick note to your legislators today urging them to take bold action in 2023 to ‘turn off the tap on toxic PFAS!'