Lawmakers hear push to ban PFAS in ski, snowboard and boat wax

Representative Carrie Spear, the prime sponsor’s designee, told the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee that House Bill 167 would add ski, snowboard and boat wax to a list of consumer products banned statewide if they contain PFAS, a family of persistent chemicals.

The measure is ‘‘a very simple idea’’ meant to extend earlier work the committee completed on PFAS, Spear said. ‘‘This committee has worked for a whole year on banning certain PFAS products…we did a lot of work on that…this bill is specifically geared to ban PFAS in ski, board, and boat wax,’’ she told the panel.

Spear and other witnesses described two core reasons for the proposal: (1) PFAS in wax is applied directly to surfaces that shed into water and snow rather than becoming part of landfill waste streams, and (2) alternatives already exist. ‘‘Every company that makes the wax makes a PFAS-free version,’’ Spear said. She noted international and Olympic rules that have restricted PFAS use in competitive skiing, and said athletes at national levels use PFAS-free products.

A public commenter described a past period when liquid ski wax was unavailable and thought PFAS may have been the reason; the product reappeared in the market as a PFAS-free version, the commenter said.

Speakers cited local sampling showing fish from several lakes in southern New Hampshire contain PFAS at levels well above EPA guidance, and they urged closing a perceived regulatory gap that leaves water bodies exposed to additional PFAS inputs from wax runoff.

No formal action…