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Federal lawmakers move to ban PFAs in food containers and cookware

donggabs

Legislation in the US House is aimed at banning PFAs chemicals in food containers and cookware.

The measure was introduced by Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and would ban PFAs in everything from food wrappers to Teflon cookware.

PFAs are a family of chemicals used in a number of waterproof and greaseproof consumer products and have been linked to health problems including cancer.

Congresswoman Dingell said concerns are mounting over the widespread use of PFAs.

“People do not realize that food containers, nonstick cookware, and countless other everyday products have PFAs in them.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey as many as 97% of Americans have PFAs in their blood.

Dingell said a growing body of evidence suggests the chemicals are a threat to public health.

“One of the reasons I’m so concerned about this is the city of Ann Arbor found high levels of PFAs in and around it’s compost facility. Why? Likely due in part to the presence of food containers that have that PFAs in it.”

Congresswoman Dingell said some of her previous legislation to address PFAs had bipartisan support and she is hopeful this bill will too.

The legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration until 2022 to begin enforcing a ban on food containers with PFAs in them.