CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS • July 19, 2021
The US state of Maine is the first government in the world to ban the sale of products containing any chemical in a class of highly persistent synthetic compounds. As of Jan. 1, 2030, Maine’s law prohibits selling any product containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that were intentionally added to the item. The statute, enacted July 15, contains an exception for PFAS-containing products that the state’s Department of Environmental Protection determines are “essential for health, safety or the functioning of society and for which alternatives are not reasonably available.” The US chemical industry group American Chemistry Council, which opposes the regulation of PFAS as a single class, severely criticized the Maine statute.