Update of US State Regulations on PFAS Relating to Children's and Juvenile Products

2022-10-10

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) refers to a class of more than 4,000 chemical compounds that have been used since the 1940s for a wide range of consumer and industrial products, providing grease and water-resistance properties to them. PFAS, however, is also referred to as "forever chemicals", meaning that when they contaminate soil or groundwater, they do not easily break down or degrade into a less harmful chemical form.

Nevertheless, despite these concerns, PFAS is currently still not regulated as hazardous substances by the US federal government, so there is no national regulation to control them, and therefore the industry can only follow the individual state regulations for ensuring compliance of their products with the latest requirements. In this connection, the following table summarizes the status quo of the PFAS control in various states relating to the Children’s or Juvenile products.

State Regulations:

State	Regulation	Products	Requirement	Effective Date
California	Assembly Bill 652	Consumer products designed for children under 12	Ban juvenile product that contains “regulated PFAS chemicals” (≥ 100 ppm in total organic fluorine)	2023-07-01
Colorado	General Assembly HB22-1345	Juvenile products	Ban juvenile product that contains intentionally added PFAS chemicals	2024-01-01
Oregon	Toxic-Free Kids Act	Children's products	Chemicals of High Concern to Children (CHCC) reporting	Current
Vermont	Chemicals Of High Concern In Children’s Products Rule
Washington	Reporting for Children's Safe Products Act