Check out this interesting article published in the New York Times’ Sunday Review yesterday. It discusses the role of the states in regulating a class of chemicals called PFAS chemicals, which include PFOA and PFOS. Washington State recently banned firefighting foam and food packaging containing the entire class of chemicals even without definitive research showing the effect of all of these chemicals on the human body. The article notes federal inaction on these chemicals and supports Washington State’s approach as a way to avoid scattershot regulation that leads to the substitution of other harmful chemicals for those banned.
The tension between regulating based on the precautionary principle and regulating only after all of the evidence is one we see often in the food arena. Thoughts?
On Food Law 