Policy is a cornerstone of CEH’s strategy to create widespread and lasting positive change for our collective health. CEH is a key player in environmental and public health policy, securing far-reaching victories at the local, state, and federal levels with our partners. We fight to protect laws that are critical to safeguarding the health of people in every community, such as California’s Proposition 65, other state warning and labeling laws, and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This last year, CEH focused our policy efforts on passing numerous PFAS bans around the country, including a landmark bill in California that bans PFAS in paper-based food packaging. This work paves the way for other states to pass similar laws to put pressure on manufacturers to stop using PFAS in food-contact materials. On the other side of the country, we partnered with six North Carolina allies and grassroots groups to petition the U.S. EPA to require that The Chemours Company fund a comprehensive research program addressing the concerns of Cape Fear communities who have been exposed for decades to numerous PFAS in their drinking water, air, food, and soil because of pollution from the Chemours facility in Fayetteville, NC. Together with our partners across the nation, CEH is advocating for policies that uphold our health and hold companies accountable.
Known as “forever chemicals,” this ever-expanding group of chemicals builds up in our bodies and never break down in the environment. Very small doses of PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases.
