News & Insights: Colorado

As most states have now wrapped up their legislative sessions, we’ve found that states across the nation have adopted a range of innovative policies to combat toxic chemicals and incentivize the adoption of safer solutions.  So far this year, 17 states have adopted at least 35 policies that help transform our economic system to better protect communities and create incentives for industry to develop safer chemicals and materials. 

The year 2022 was a pivotal year where numerous states took significant action to safeguard human and environmental health from toxic chemicals and pushed toward a system based on safer chemicals and materials. Given the urgency of the PFAS chemical crisis contaminating drinking water across the country, states drove an ambitious agenda, pushing for class-based restriction of toxic chemicals, transparency about what chemicals are in what products, holding polluters accountable, preventing false solutions, and investing in cleanup.

There is reason to hope that we can see beyond the political divisions that were evident on election day 2022 and work together to address common threats. One issue, in particular, has consistently drawn bipartisan attention from state legislators across the country — the need to address toxic PFAS chemicals that are contaminating communities and drinking water.

Today, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law a groundbreaking bipartisan bill restricting the sale of PFAS “forever chemicals” in consumer products including oil and gas products; carpets or rugs; cosmetics; fabric treatments; food packaging; juvenile products; textile furnishings; and upholstered furniture. While several states have passed legislation to restrict PFAS in certain products, Colorado is the first in the U.S. to include a prohibition on PFAS chemicals in fluids that are used in the extraction of oil and gas products. Colorado is also the first state in the country to pass a state law that explicitly bans the entire class of PFAS in cosmetics, textile furnishings and indoor and outdoor furniture.

While Safer States primarily focuses on stopping the use of toxic chemicals, another key aspect of our mission is to support the clean up of communities that have been impacted by toxic pollution. We are happy to report that we have seen many victories this year in this fight!

Thanks to the hard work of advocates all around the country, states are once again adopting much needed policies to protect their citizens from dangerous toxic chemicals.

From Anchorage, AK to Greenburgh, NY to Albertsons’ hometown of Boise, ID, shoppers urged the company to turn up the heat on toxic chemicals this summer.