Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership
On January 1st, Minnesota welcomed both a new year and new protections against PFAS, a class of dangerous “forever chemicals.”
Eleven categories of consumer products are now prohibited from containing PFAS in Minnesota thanks to a 2023 Legislative package called Amara’s Law. More bans will go into effect in future stages through 2032.
The implementation of these bans is good news for Minnesotans’ health. These chemicals, which do not break down in the environment, contribute to numerous types of cancer, birth defects, and other diseases. PFAS substances are now found everywhere in our natural world and in our bodies, and the most important action we can take to protect wildlife and ourselves is to reduce the amount produced and used.
While the bans may now be in force, they can’t be taken for granted. Powerful interest groups have signaled that they would like to repeal or water down Amara’s law.
Why Amara’s Law
Minnesota is home to many notable “ground-zero” areas for PFAS contamination, most famously in the eastern Twin Cities Metro. A plume of PFAS from a 3M dump site in Cottage Grove has seeped into nearby aquifers, contributing to a spike in cancer rates. Most infamously, the water at Tartan High School in Oakdale – which has experienced high rates of cancer among students – was heavily impacted.
One Tartan student and cancer patient, Amara Strande, was one of the most vocal advocates for PFAS protection. She passed away in 2023 at the age of 20, but her legacy lives on in the law passed that year that bears her name. Thanks to her advocacy and the work of MEP member Clean Water Action Minnesota, as well as an array of supporting organizations, Minnesota is beginning to turn off the tap on PFAS.
The need for Amara’s Law and other PFAS protections has proven only more important since its passage, reminding us that it’s not a metro-only issue. Studies now indicate that PFAS-containing sludge from sewage, used on farms for fertilizer, pose a serious health risk for food as well as farmers and those who live near them. The MPCA recently developed a strategy to test for this PFAS exposure source.
Meanwhile, communities across the state like Alexandria, Bemidji, and Cloquet face serious costs for contending with these chemicals in their groundwater. The East Metro has secured some funding for water treatment due to a state lawsuit against 3M, but this is a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of the problem.
Threats to Amara’s law
Earlier this month, the Cookware Sustainability Alliance, an industry group, sued the state of Minnesota to attempt to overturn Amara’s law, arguing that it is overly disruptive to commerce and fails to benefit the public. The Minnesota Attorney General’s office rejects the industry’s arguments and has pledged to vigorously oppose the suit.
Meanwhile, some legislators have openly discussed weakening the law to benefit manufacturers of products like ATVs and dirt bikes, among other industries. MEP strongly opposes these efforts and will work in collaboration with Clean Water Action – which recently held a press conference on PFAS protections – and other groups to combat them.
Amara’s Law includes a broad range of products for a good reason: once PFAS chemicals are in the environment, they get everywhere and they don’t go away. They bioaccumulate in our bodies and contribute to cancer at alarming rates. Not all “forever chemicals” are known carcinogens, but the more we learn about them, the more disturbing the reality becomes.
Amara’s Law has just begun doing its good work for our state. We need to make sure the law – in full – stays on the books.