A brand new invoice may ban the sale of tampons and different menstrual merchandise that include doubtlessly poisonous chemical compounds in California, reigniting a push by girls’s rights teams and environmentalists that Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected final yr.
Underneath a proposal launched by Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo), the state can be required to establish and assess the hazards of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in menstrual merchandise and make that data out there to the general public.
Publicity to some PFAs — deemed “ceaselessly chemical compounds” due to their indestructibility — has been tied to kidney most cancers, will increase in ldl cholesterol, liver dysfunction and preeclampsia, a critical being pregnant complication, in response to the CDC. Current analysis has discovered these chemical compounds in some manufacturers of well-liked tampons and pads.
“This can be a step in defending girls from PFAS in some of the intimate ways in which it may be uncovered to our our bodies,” Papan stated at a information convention on Monday on the state Capitol.
A related invoice launched final yr noticed bipartisan assist and never a single “no” vote within the Legislature however was vetoed by Newsom regardless of saying he “strongly” supported its intent. The Democratic governor, who has in any other case championed insurance policies defending girls’s well being, stated such chemical bans have confirmed troublesome to implement and triggered confusion.
“I’m involved that this invoice falls in need of offering enhanced safety to California shoppers as a result of lack of regulatory oversight,” Newsom stated in his veto message final yr, including that there was “inconsistent” interpretations of current legal guidelines by producers concerning restrictions.
Newsom has signed legal guidelines that prohibit PFAs in meals packaging and in cosmetics however vetoed different proposals to ban the chemical compounds in cleansing merchandise and synthetic turf, citing related regulation issues.
The new iteration of the invoice referred to as the Tampon Act directs the California Division of Poisonous Substances Management to have interaction with business leaders previous to issuing laws in response to Newsom’s issues.
“We really feel that that’s undoubtedly one thing that may put the veto message to mattress,” Papan stated Monday.
If accepted by the Legislature and governor, the regulation would go into impact in 2027 and would impose fines for firms discovered to violate the brand new prohibition on these chemical compounds and permit a path for shoppers to sue.
Papan stated there isn’t any price related to the invoice and that it may generate funding for the state by amassing fines from tampon producers present in violation of the brand new regulation.
One client examine performed in 2022 discovered that out of 23 tampon manufacturers lab examined, 22% contained indications of PFAS. The examine, performed by the environmental watchdog group Mamavation in partnership with Environmental Well being Information, discovered traces of ceaselessly chemical compounds in some Playtex and Tampax merchandise, in addition to some tampons labeled as natural.
PFAs have additionally been present in nonstick cookware and ingesting water, in response to the EPA.
“We have now to determine the regulatory facet of this subject… as a result of we will’t select to not tackle it,” Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) stated Monday in assist of the invoice.
Tampons have been some extent of laws in California earlier than. In 2021, Newsom signed a invoice into regulation that requires public colleges to supply free menstrual merchandise. In 2019, he quickly eradicated a gross sales tax on menstrual merchandise.
