Committee advances H238 to add dental floss, cleaners and fluorine‑treated containers to PFAS ban; broader regulation delayed

Representative Chapin, the bill reporter, told the House Health & Welfare committee on March 28 that H238 would expand the state's existing consumer‑product bans on PFAS while preserving consumer‑protection enforcement and seeking multi‑year agency reports.

The bill adds three categories to the consumer‑product prohibitions established in last year's Act 131: dental floss, broad categories of cleaning products, and fluorine‑treated containers. It also consolidates the individual product bans into a single section of Title 9, chapter 63, subchapter 12a and keeps enforcement under the attorney general's consumer‑protection authority rather than moving full regulatory responsibility to the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR).

"The agency came back with the report ... and it included 3 new products, cleaners, dental floss, and fluorine treated containers," Michael, the committee presenter, said while walking members through the ANR report and the bill text. Representative Chapin summarized the policy aim as incremental: "we were trying to compromise and keep the definition of PFAS broad because the science ... the entire category of PFAS chemicals is known to or is likely to ... have the kinds of effects on human health and the environment." The committee reported the bill unanimously out of committee, Chapin said: "It was unanimous."

Key provisions and dates in H238: manufacturers shall not manufacture, sell or distribute…