California Enacts Law to Track 'Forever Chemicals' in Pesticides

California has enacted new legislation requiring the state to track the use of pesticides containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a significant regulatory development for the country's largest agricultural producer.

Signed into law this week by Governor Gavin Newsom, the bill mandates that the state's Department of Pesticide Regulation must identify which agricultural pesticides contain PFAS when reporting their usage in a public database. The department will also be required to monitor trends in the application of these chemicals across the state.

Implications for Agriculture and Regulation

The law is seen by environmental advocates as a critical first step toward more stringent regulation of PFAS, often called "forever chemicals" due to their persistence in the environment. These substances have been linked to serious health issues, including cancer and immune system effects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This will give the state the opportunity to start analyzing what’s being used, applied where, and how to move forward to get rid of it," said Monica Amarelo, a vice president at the Environmental Working Group, which supported the bill. The increased transparency could create new reputational and compliance risks for chemical manufacturers and agricultural firms operating in a state that produces nearly half of the nation's vegetables and more than three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.

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Legislative Background

The final version of the legislation represents a compromise. An earlier draft, sponsored by Assemblymember Nick Schultz, would have prohibited state regulators from approving any new pesticides containing PFAS. This more aggressive version faced widespread opposition from farming groups and was subsequently scaled back to focus on tracking and reporting.

Despite the changes, proponents view the law as a foundational measure. "Tracking and monitoring is the crucial first step," Schultz said in a statement, adding, "You can’t fix what you can’t see." The law establishes a framework for data collection that could inform future legislative or regulatory actions aimed at limiting the use of PFAS in agriculture.