Urgent Action Needed To Restrict PFAS & Toxic Chemicals In Menstrual Products, Advocates Say
Bill Passed Senate Yesterday, Has 81 Assembly Co-Sponsors
Albany, NY - Tuesday, January 23rd: In the early days of the 2024 legislative session, JustGreen Partnership member organizations and legislators call for quick action to pass the Ban on PFAS and Toxics in Menstrual Products bill - S. 3529A (Fernandez) / A.5990A (L Rosenthal) - which passed the Senate yesterday afternoon and is currently on the floor in the Assembly. 81 Assemblymembers - more than half of the body - cosponsor the bill.
To highlight the urgency, advocates unveiled a tampon dispenser wrapped to look like a cigarette pack, filled with nontoxic Lola tampons in tubes designed to look like cigarettes. The reason for this is the overlap of harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke and those identified in period products. They also launched a series of advertisements highlighting overlaps in chemicals of concern in period products and cigarettes, pesticides, and explosives. These images can be found at toxic tampons.org.
This bill will ensure that of feminine hygiene products (pads, tampons, liners, sponges, etc.) sold in New York State are made without common harmful chemicals, including PFAS “forever chemicals,” heavy metals like lead and mercury, hormone-disrupting parabens, and carcinogens like formaldehyde and toluene. The bill has advanced quickly in 2024, passing out of the Assembly Health committee without objection last week and passing the Senate unanimously in 2023 and yesterday.
“It is shocking to me that we could overlook a toxic chemicals issue that intersects with both women’s health and environmental safety,” said Senator Nathalia Fernandez. “This bill would put a stop to the sale of harmful chemicals in feminine hygiene products like mercury, formaldehyde, and PFAS. An individual can use over 16,000 feminine hygiene products over the course of their lifetime, ranging from tampons to pads and wipes. This opens their bodies to an influx of all types of chemicals and substances. I am proud that this bill will stand with a package of Maternal and Reproductive Health bills from my colleagues that will protect both mothers and children.”
"The use of toxic ingredients in many of the menstrual products on the market today is downright shocking," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF - Manhattan), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing. "In 2019, I was proud to author a law requiring the disclosure of ingredients in all menstrual products sold, but consumers never would have expected that some of the ingredients in their products would be the same toxins used in cigarettes, pesticides and even dynamite. People who menstruate may use more than 10,000 products over the course of their life and there must be an expectation that these products are safe and do not cause short- or long-term harm. This session, I look forward to partnering with Clean+Healthy to pass my bill into law to prohibit the use of toxic ingredients, like PFAS, mercury, lead and other dangerous ingredients, in all menstrual products sold in the state."
"In the 21st century, it is unbelievable that we allow chemicals such as lead, mercury, and talc in menstrual products. I fully support legislation that would ban PFAS and other toxins that have been proven to contribute to reproductive challenges, weakened immune systems, and cancer from menstrual products. Thanks to Assemblymember Rosenthal, Senator Fernandez, and the coalition of advocates for supporting the ban of toxic chemicals in menstrual products," said Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon.
“It’s a modern scandal that toxic chemicals are so common in our everyday lives - including hiding in products that are used so intimately. You can have as many as 3,500 periods in your life, which means using roughly 10,000 period products. That’s 10,000 times for harmful chemicals hidden in period products to sneak into your body and potentially affect your health,” said Bobbi Wilding, Executive Director of Clean+Healthy and co-lead of the JustGreen Partnership. “Chemicals like formaldehyde, phthalates, and PFAS that are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, are dangerous, unnecessary, and have no place in period products. We are incredibly thankful to the bill sponsors, Senator Fernandez and Assemblymember Rosenthal, for championing this important issue, and to all the cosponsors who recognize the urgency for action. We are thrilled that the bill has once again passed the Senate and urge the Assembly to pass it promptly as well.”
“Far too many of the materials used in menstrual products contain chemicals that have been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive harm, and research has found the exposure to be even greater for people of color, who already face disproportionate levels of exposure to toxic chemicals from other uses. It is so important to address toxic chemicals in menstrual products because the chemicals are more likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream than from other products,” said Sonal Jessel, MPH, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and co-lead of the JustGreen Partnership. “We would like to thank Senator Nathalia Fernandez (D-Bronx) for her leadership in getting the legislation passed in the Senate. We would also like to thank Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) for getting the legislation through committee and onto the floor, where we look forward to a swift Assembly passage as well.”
“Black Americans and people with less formal education are more likely to use scented menstrual products as well as scent-altering products such as vaginal douches and wipes than other groups. Ingredients used in these products have been linked to allergies, asthma, cancer, endocrine disruption, and poor pregnancy outcomes. This new bill will help advance health equity since communities of color and people with less formal education are more likely to use menstrual products with potentially harmful chemicals,” said Dr. Ami Zota, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
"I'm extremely pleased both NYS houses are recognizing the ongoing concerns of toxic chemicals on our health. Given the ubiquity and bioaccumulative nature of PFAS, particularly in sensitive areas as research has shown, this is an imperative reduction pathway for females who would utilize these products for potentially decades. It's yet another positive step at limiting unnecessary PFAS exposures, on the path to following health and regulatory agencies guidance echoed as such. As these products aren't labeled for PFAS, it ensures we won't have to do arduous searches, often uninformative or with little to no data, to find what they are in, and all too many aren't familiar enough to personally look into this category of products for such toxins. Also in passing this legislation, to those of us in already contaminated communities, every drop of PFAS we don't add to our already overexposed bodies is vital," said Loreen Hackett, PFOAProject NY.
“The business community applauds the New York State legislature for quick action on this bill. Our businesses and economy depend on a healthy citizenry, which is threatened by PFAS poisoning, especially in products that directly contact our skin. With safer products available—some even produced in New York—we must push forward, support innovation, and meet the growing consumer demand for safer products. We look to Governor Hochul to sign this bill into law,” said Bob Rossi, Executive Director of the New York Sustainable Business Council (NYSBC).
"The Sierra Club strongly supports S.3529-A/A.5990-A as part of the larger effort to stop the exposure of humans and wildlife to toxic 'forever chemicals' like PFAS," said Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation Program Manager, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "Ridding our environment of these ubiquitous toxins will improve public health and reduce the costs of healthcare and expensive filtration of drinking water. This bill would help limit yet another pathway of PFAS and other toxic chemical exposures for New Yorkers. We applaud the leadership of Senator Fernandez and Assemblymember Rosenthal in getting this legislation passed this year."
“It is imperative to stand behind this bill and move it forward now. Nearly 100 million young vulnerable girls, women, who menstruate using feminine care products are at serious health risk, using these necessary products for approximately 40 years. These products contain harmful chemicals such as PFAS, formaldehyde, phthalates, and toluene that may contribute to the development of diseases such as breast cancer. Waiting is not acceptable. On behalf of Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition we request each of our NYS officials to get this to the finish line, ” said Karen Joy Miller, Founder of Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition.
“The government’s first priority must be the health and safety of the population and the fact that New York currently permits the use of PFAS and other toxins in menstrual care products means the state is not living up to that sacred commitment,” said Andrew Williams, Deputy Director for State Policy, NYLCV. “We applaud the State Senate for acting quickly in the 2024 session to pass this NYLCV scorecard bill excluding unsafe chemicals from these products and we call on the Assembly to quickly follow suit.”
“The state legislature has a responsibility to protect public health by prohibiting PFAS and other dangerous chemicals in menstrual products,” said Kate Donovan, Northeast Lead for Environmental Health and Senior Attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Toxic chemicals and PFAS are lurking in many consumer products — to the detriment of New Yorkers. When it comes to menstrual products, it's appalling that such harmful chemicals come into contact with some of the most sensitive and absorbent parts of the body. PFAS exposure contributes to reproductive and fertility challenges, reduced immune function, hormone interference, and cancer. Banning these chemicals in menstrual care products is a no-brainer.”
Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate at Earthjustice, said, “As reproductive health continues to come under attack federally, the last thing menstruating people should have to worry about is whether or not menstrual products have toxic chemicals in them. Menstrual products, by design, are typically inside or within skin contact of the body, making people who use these products extremely susceptible to exposure to toxic chemicals if they are present. With New York as a longstanding leader for reproductive health rights, the Assembly should not hesitate to follow the Senate and pass this commonsense legislation prohibiting the use of toxic chemicals in menstrual products.”
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The JustGreen Partnership is a 17 year old diverse collaboration of environmental justice, environmental health, environmental, health-affected, children’s, and business organizations working for environmental health and justice for New York’s people and communities. Learn more: just-green.org
