FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oakland, CA - October 13, 2025
Today Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 682 (Allen) which was approved by the legislature last month and which would have banned PFAS or “forever chemicals” in six product categories - cookware, dental floss, children’s products not covered by previous legislation, non-paper based food packaging, ski wax, and cleaning products. Bans on these products have been implemented in other states, but California’s position as the world’s fourth largest economy would have created momentum to remove PFAs from these products everywhere. That leverage generated significant national interest in the passage of this bill.
“This was an opportunity for Governor Newsom, who is positioning himself as a national leader, to demonstrate his commitment to the environment and public health, yet he dropped the ball,” said Andria Ventura, Clean Water Action’s Legislative and Policy Director and one of the bill’s co-sponsors. She cited the cookware industry’s well-funded and high-profile campaign as a possible reason for the Governor’s decision. “This bill had huge support from both within the state and beyond, and yet, apparently, the Governor was interested only in the one sector opposing it-the cookware industry.”
Ventura expressed frustration at the misleading campaign waged by the foodware industry and a handful of celebrity chefs. Assertions that PTFE, the PFAS used in Teflon, is safe were easily countered by a plethora of independent research studies refuting industry’s claim and tying the chemical to serious health impacts and pollution. A short walk into any store or review of cookware websites demonstrated that non-PFAS alternatives were both widely available and at comparable cost. Yet the Governor’s veto message cited industry’s unsupportable arguments about costs and ignored data provided by the bill sponsors showing the argument to be specious.
Today’s action doesn’t stand alone as the Governor seems determined to move away from his pro-environment past. He also vetoed another Clean Water Action sponsored bill, AB 823 (Boehner), which would simply have banned plastic microbeads used as cosmetic glitter or in cleaning products. The bill had no recorded opposition, yet the Governor’s veto message stated that a to “ban specific ingredients, such as glitter, … may incidentally result in a prohibition on biodegradable or natural alternatives”. In fact the intent of the bill was to drive companies to use those safer alternatives.
“We are disappointed in the Governor’s opposition to common sense bills that protect consumers and prevent toxic chemicals and plastics from entering our water systems,” said Jennifer Clary, Clean Water Action’s California Director. “The result is that California could become the dumping ground for unsustainable products while other states act. And while companies profit, ratepayers will get stuck with the bill for water and other environmental cleanup. There is something very wrong with that picture.”
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Clean Water Action is a national 501(c)(4) environmental organization with nearly one million members nationwide. Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Learn more at cleanwater.org or follow us on Twitter @cleanh2oca and Facebook @CleanWaterActionCalifornia.