Overview
- Michigan's Senate Bill 735 is co-sponsored by 14th District Senator Sue Shink (D-Ann Arbor). It aims to require warning labels on consumer products containing PFAS to help consumers make informed choices about exposure.
- PFAS contamination is a major issue in Michigan, with over 11,000 identified sites, making transparency and regulation crucial to protecting public health and the environment.
- Under the Trump administration, PFAS regulations were limited, with actions such as the withdrawal of proposed rules to set discharge limits on these chemicals. The previous Biden administration later established enforceable drinking water standards and designated certain PFAS as hazardous substances. Trump’s subsequent withdrawal of these regulations has led to renewed concerns and state-level action.
- PFAS exposure has been linked to serious health issues, including cancer, liver damage, reduced fertility, and immune system changes, disproportionately affecting communities near industrial sites and military bases.
- The future of PFAS legislation involves increasing state and federal regulatory efforts, with Michigan's SB 735 currently under committee review as of March 2024, alongside broader efforts to set drinking water standards and restrict PFAS use in products.
Transcription
David Fair: It's going to take a multi-pronged approach to effectively deal with PFAS and the environmental hazards and public health concerns they cause. I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment on 89.1 WEMU. Sue Shink resides in Northfield Township and represents the 14th District in the Michigan Senate. She is pushing for greater transparency when it comes to these "forever chemicals" that we find in our consumer products. The Democrat has co-sponsored a measure that would require warning labels on products that contain PFAS, and she's doing so in the face of federal efforts to roll back PFAS regulations. Senator Shink, thank you so much for the time today! I appreciate it!
Sen. Sue Shink:Thank you! I appreciate being able to talk with you and all your listeners!
David Fair: Well, first of all, how severely are we lacking in PFAS labeling?
Sen. Sue Shink: We're lacking severely enough that I can read that PFAS is present in shampoo, dental floss, nail polish, eye make-up, waterproofing, tents, jackets, umbrellas, and food packaging. I have no idea and no way to find out if the products that I'm buying have it in them or not.
David Fair: Well, obviously, not on consumer product labels. The cynic in me says that's because, if they were, the size of the container would have to triple. The optimist in me say corporate ethics, in some way, will protect my health. Where do you fall in that spectrum?
Sen. Sue Shink: Yeah, I don't believe it. I believe it was 3M has known that PFAS was problematic since the 1960s that it could build up in our blood and cause health risks. I've known since the 1990s when I was in school at U of M SEAS that PFAS was in pans, but they're still being sold with PFAS in them. I guess I'm more of the cynic. I think that corporations, if they've got PFAS in their products, they ought to be proud of it and tell us . They got to tell us everything that's in their product, but they know that people don't want that in their bodies because it causes high cholesterol, thyroid disease risk, some kinds of cancers, and it can even cause preeclampsia in pregnancy. So, there are a lot of problems with it, and I could go on for a little while about the problems that it causes. The reason that I think this legislation is good is that people can make their own decisions. We have a right to know what's going into our bodies and make decisions about it, just like if you want to eat fish, eat fish. If you want eat meat, eat meat. If you wanna eat carrots, eat carrots. But you gotta know where they are.
David Fair: You've chosen an interesting time to introduce a regulatory measure. It comes in the flurry of federal activity aimed at reducing regulation and government oversight. Is that part of the incentive for bringing this forward and pushing it towards enaction right now?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, from my view, this isn't really much of a regulation. It's just an ingredient label. And it allows people to make their own decisions, which, to me, is kind of an ultimate freedom. So, I realize that my colleagues across the aisle will probably see it differently, but it's not a monolith. And, hopefully, we can find enough people to get it through.
David Fair: This is Issues of the Environment on 89.1 WEMU, and we're talking with State Senator Sue Shink. And, Senator, let's take a deeper look at what your bill would bring to the table. Senate Bill 735 would require consumer products containing PFAS chemicals carry a warning label. Now, sometimes, labels on our products are written in such small print, we have difficulty reading them, even with glasses. What do you envision that warning label to look like?
Sen. Sue Shink: You know, I think I need to go back and look at that because my eyes have gotten to the point where I need reading glasses to read kind of the basic print, so I'm going to go take a look at that. This interview has been very helpful. Thank you.
David Fair: Well, there have been warning labels on cigarettes, other tobacco products, and alcohol products for a long time. Are there lessons we can take away from those programs?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, some people are going to ignore the label. And sometimes, it takes people a while to come around. I know, for me, when I look at the California Proposition 65 labels, which pop up in Michigan from time to time, even sometimes I do buy the product because maybe there's no real good alternative, like if I'm buying an extension cord or sometimes even a garden tool but it makes me think about it, and before I just wouldn't have thought about it at all. So, I think they are helpful. I think we all could use more mindfulness about what we're putting into our bodies. There are a lot of illnesses that we can contract from the substances that are out in the environment. So, when we talk about the environment, it's not just we're talking about things being out in world. We're talking ingesting chemicals into our body that actually make us sick, shorten our lives and make us feel like crap. So, I think people have a right to know, so that they can take responsibility, if they want. And if they don't, then they don' have to. But, to me, it's a question of freedom and fairness. And if we're paying money for a product, we ought to know what's in it.
David Fair: Informed choice!
Sen. Sue Shink: Yeah!
David Fair: And you mentioned California, and, in many respects when it comes to environmental issues, that state has been ahead of the curve, including on chemical labeling. What did you look at and take from California's laws and bring it to this proposal here in Lansing?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, I think the thing about the California laws is that California's economy has not shut down because hazardous chemicals are labeled. I think that we can all look at California and say they're an economic powerhouse, their economy is doing fine, products are still sold and bought there and people can get what they need. So, it really is an addition in value. It's not taking anything away to label the hazardous chemicals in our products.
David Fair: Once again, we're talking with 14th District State Senator Sue Shink on WEMU's Issues of the Environment. As you've pointed out, there have already been a number of measures to increase public health and environmental protections when it comes to PFAS in Michigan, and, as I pointed out, it's going to take a multi-pronged approach to best deal with this. I'm betting there's going be plenty more legislation to come in the years to come. Why is the labeling requirement the best next step right now in your estimation?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, I think that it gives people a chance to make their own decision and raises awareness. If people choose to buy fewer products that have PFAS in them, we're going to have fewer opportunities for major releases like we saw in the Huron River a few years ago where so much PFAS was released that we now can't eat the fish. I mean, it's a continuing problem. And I actually did introduce a bill and worked really hard to get it passed through the Senate that would have given EGLE more power to regulate PFAS in our waters, and I wasn't able to get it through the House. So, I think we need to keep trying multiple ways to reduce PFAS, but this is just one of them, and it gives the consumer some more power. When I talk to my constituents, I also hear that they want more power. They feel like they're being taken advantage of, especially by big companies a lot of the time. And this is one way that we can put some power back in the hands of people who are actually spending their money on the product.
David Fair: Let's talk a little bit more about power in choice. The idea to increase transparency and therefore create a greater degree of informed consent among public consumers is behind the measure of this bill. PFAS chemicals, as you pointed out, have long been ubiquitous in our products. It's in fire retardant furniture treatments, extinguishing foam, food packaging, cookware textiles, medical devices--we could go on and on. So, beyond labels, on our part, it's going to require some behavioral changes in the buying public. That tends to be a very slow change. Is it a matter of slow change is better than no change?
Sen. Sue Shink: Yeah, there was a time when I didn't realize that organic food that, essentially, there was some difference between it and food that was grown with chemicals. One of the differences is that I'm taking in fewer chemicals to my body, but another one of the differences that I understand now is that it also is not exposing farmers to harmful chemicals. I think we can look at PFAS in the same way. So, we go to the store, we see a PFAS warning label, and we can think, "Oh, I don't want that in my body!" And then also, "I didn't want it in my river. I don't want it into my fish. I don't want it in the factory where the stuff is being made." We can make those decisions if we have the information. If we don't have the the information, which is the state now, because when I go to the store, even a health food store, I don't see any PFAS warning labels. I don't see any labels that say, "We don't contain PFAS." I have no idea. I can't make those decisions at all. I have no power to make an informed consent.
David Fair: We'll see if it becomes law. Where in the process now is Senate Bill 735?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, it's been introduced. We don't have a hearing yet, and we'll keep working on it.
David Fair: Do you anticipate a hearing in the relative near future?
Sen. Sue Shink: I would say in the next year. Right now, we're working on the budget, and so that's a pretty big deal. And I think in this legislative environment, which is a soft way of saying we've got some pretty bad behavior going on in the House, I think it's going to be difficult to get this through. And so, I'm trying to build up a lot of support, which, generally happens after introduction, is going to be very important.
David Fair: Well, we will be following along, and we will most certainly have occasion to talk again. I thank you for your time and for the information, Senator!
Sen. Sue Shink: Thank you so much! I appreciate all the work that you do talking about these issues!
David Fair: That is 14th District State Senator Sue Shink. The Northfield Township Democrat has co-sponsored legislation aimed at creating greater transparency by requiring that consumer products containing PFAS forever chemicals be accurately labeled. For more information, stop by our website at wemu.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!
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