MAINE PUBLIC • August 14, 2023
Maine environmental regulators are moving forward with plans to ban the sale of food packaging made with PFAS, joining a small but growing number of states targeting a potential exposure pathway to the “forever chemicals.” For years, many food packaging manufacturers — including some with factories in Maine — have used PFAS coatings to keep paper-based containers from turning into soggy, greasy messes. But the same durable chemical bonds that make PFAS so useful in nonstick cookware, waterproof fabrics and food packaging also prevent the compounds from breaking down easily in the body and the environment, hence the nickname "forever chemicals.” A growing body of scientific studies have also linked some PFAS to health problems such as cancer, kidney disease, low birth weight and disruption of the endocrine system.