California governor under pressure over bill to ban cookware made with Pfas | Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, faces intense pressure from industry, and even certain celebrity leaders, because he weighs a bill or not that prohibits the sale of cooking uses made with PFAS or “chemicals forever”.

The legislation, approved by the California Legislative Assembly on September 12, comes when Newsom is considering a race for the presidential democratic appointment, increasing the meticulous examination of its decision.

Industry pressure is part of a broader attack which aims to derail similar prohibitions on APFs in cooking utensils in other states, according to public health defenders. Newsom has veto history of certain environmental invoices around toxic chemicals, including a ban on APFs in household cleaners and the artificial lawn that was made in the middle of similar pressure from the industry. But the defenders say they worked with the administration to respond to concerns.

“The industry exerts so much pressure on Newsom, and they do it in the press, frightening the public and the high -level people write to him by saying that the sky will fall,” said Andria Ventura, legislative director of Clean Water Action, who was pressure for the invoices. “We don’t know where he will land on it.”

The Newsom office did not immediately respond to a request for comments. He has until October 13 to oppose his veto to the bill.

PFAs are a class of around 16,000 chemicals most frequently used to make products with water, coloring and fat. Compounds have been linked to cancer, congenital malformations, a decrease in immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not decompose naturally in the environment.

Cookware Sustainability Alliance, a commercial group founded by two of the largest restaurant manufacturers in the world, Group Seb and Meyer, leads the charge against the prohibition. Steve Burns, a group lobbyist, said that he was particularly concerned about restaurants that use PFA throughout the kitchen.

“Some of the best leaders of the nation are counting on the non-stick,” he said. “They need it in their restaurants.”

Burns claimed the butter and oil used in the pans is more unhealthy than exposure to the PTFE and said that the kitchen utensils industry is unfairly offset because it has not created chemicals.

“We are two stages, but we are those who are responsible,” said Burns.

The chiefs who came out in opposition to the bill include Thomas Keller, David Chang and Rachael Ray – Everyone had cooking lines that could take a financial hit from the ban. This has aroused criticism from the actor and anti-PFAS activist Mark Ruffalo, who supports the prohibition.

State legislature is the seventh to prohibit the sale of PFAS in kitchen utensils, and is part of a package that would prohibit the use of chemicals in six product categories. States legislatures in the United States have proposed hundreds of limits of the use of PFAS in consumer goods in recent years, which puts pressure on companies to move away from often dangerous chemicals in non-essential uses.

“These are avoidable uses of the PFAS that we can eliminate now,” Avi Kar, principal director of the Toxic program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who puts pressure on the bill. “The PFAS is such an important problem and we have to do our best to reduce exhibitions. This is a clear case, and there are already alternatives, so that will not cause difficulties. ”

Defenders say they worked with industry in other product categories, but only manufacturers of cooking utensils were hostile to legislation. The industry previously continued the Federal Court to try to reverse a similar ban on Minnesota, but the prosecution was rejected.

Tactics and similar claims are deployed in California. The industry said, without providing solid evidence, that prohibitions have caused kitchen shortages on store shelves. Maine was among the first states to prohibit APF in cooking utensils and that industry said that the brides were turned upside down because they cannot obtain teflon pots in their registers, according to lawyers.

PFAS compounds like PTFE, also called Téflon, are most often used in pans and industry have said that the chemical was safe and should not be classified as PFAS. New Mexico has exempted the PTFE from its ban on cooking utensils, but most governments classify it as a PFAS and regulate it. While science suggests that the PTFE represents less threat to health isolated than other more dangerous APFs, some research evaluated by peers highlights risks throughout its life cycle.

The very toxic APFs are used to make the PTFE, and the first can be found in the environment or the remains on a pan. When PTFE kitchen utensils are scratched or chipped, it can lose micro- or nanoplastics in food. Research has linked PTFE in combination with other microplastics to reduce the quality of sperm, among other health problems, and PTFE smoke emitted by a pan can cause pseudo-Grippal symptoms.

Ventura noted that the Californian public water and sewer trade group approves the prohibition because public services are found with the cost of trying to withdraw pollution from drinking water PFA.

The industry has also disseminated advertisements in California, saying that the state is in a cost of living crisis, and the ban would force families to spend more than $ 300 by buying new pots and pans. In an ad that ran on Instagram, a woman standing in a kitchen states that she cannot afford to buy new pans.

But Ventura noted that the prohibition only covers the sale of new kitchen utensils with PFAs and does not prevent having the products or buying them outside the state. Although industry complaint alternatives are more expensive, most companies also make stainless steel products, cast iron or non -stick ceramic, and many have the same price.

“All you have to do is enter a Marshalls or Macy’s and you can see that they are the same price, and companies make the alternatives,” said Ventura. “No one is going to go to your home or in the kitchen of your restaurant and to take away [the Teflon pans]. “”