ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On February 2, nationally renowned scientists, environmental advocates, and public health experts provided testimony to the Maryland Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee in support of the Pesticide Registration – PFAS Testing – Requirements Bill (SB 158/HB 319). Sponsored by Sen. Shelly Hettleman and Del. Dana Stein, the proposed legislation will phase out the use of pesticides that contain PFAS, per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, in Maryland.
PFAS—also known as ‘forever chemicals’—do not break down in the environment, and there is no known way to destroy or safely dispose of them. These chemicals have made their way into our drinking water, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, soil, food, fish, and consequently, our bodies. New research found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS in common pesticides used on food crops; the crops grown in these fields tested at thousands of times the EPA’s lifetime safe drinking water limit.
“Decades ago, as we learned the dangers of lead, asbestos, and ozone-depleting chemicals, we took action,” said Hettleman. “Now that we are awakening to the dangers of PFAS, we can turn the tide by enacting smart, common-sense laws. We have received welcome good news recently about our efforts to repair the ozone hole and PFAS could have the same success story. This bill builds on our legislative action from last year to protect our air, soil, and waters—and ultimately our residents—from dangerous PFAS contamination.”
Millions of pounds of pesticides are applied annually in Maryland—that end up in our air, soil, and the Bay—and we do not know whether they contain PFAS.
“Everyone is subjected to pesticides used in Maryland where we work and play—farms, communities, parks, playgrounds, healthcare facilities, and schools,” said Ruth Berlin, Executive Director, Maryland Pesticide Education Network. “With the recent discovery that common pesticides contain high levels of PFAS, we need to act now.”
Even low exposure to PFAS is linked to a multitude of long-term, serious health impacts, including kidney, testicular, prostate, and breast cancer, birth defects and developmental damage in infants, childhood obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and impaired immune function. PFAS levels also affect the severity of COVID-19 infection and have been correlated with vaccine failure.
“Children and fetuses are uniquely susceptible to the effects of toxic chemicals like PFAS,” said Michael J. Ichniowski, M.D., chair of the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Environmental Health and Climate Change Committee. “This bill offers Maryland the opportunity to protect its residents. Marylanders deserve to know that the products used in their communities and in growing their food are free from chemicals that may impact their health, and our children deserve to be kept safe from such preventable exposures.”
Recently, dangerous levels of toxic PFAS have also been found in freshwater fish in the U.S. A report, published in the journal Environmental Research, found that eating a single serving of freshwater fish would equate to the same exposure as drinking a month’s worth of PFAS-contaminated water.
In the Bay watershed, Vicki Blazer, Ph.D., a research fishery biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center, conducted research on PFAS found in fish in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. Her team found four of 13 PFAS compounds were found in every smallmouth bass plasma sample collected in 2017, 2018, and 2019, at four locations in the Chesapeake Bay with differing land use patterns.
Last year, the Maryland General Assembly took a critically important step in banning the use of PFAS in firefighting foam and the manufacturing of paper products for food packaging and in rugs and carpets. PFAS exposure through pesticides presents a broader risk to Marylanders and our environment because pesticides are pervasive.
“Research is showing that some manufacturers are likely adding PFAS to pesticide formulations,” said Graham Peaslee, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Notre Dame. “But pesticides do not need PFAS to be effective, as there are clearly pesticides available without PFAS. Knowing the environmental and human health dangers of PFAS, we must work to protect our communities, our environment, and our future.”
The bill requires all manufacturers of mosquito control products that are registered in the state to provide annual independent lab testing and certification to document that the pesticide is PFAS-free, beginning Jan. 1, 2024. As of Jan. 1, 2026, manufacturers of all pesticides must provide this same testing to prove the pesticide is PFAS-free. The bill would not cost Maryland anything—the multi-billion-dollar manufacturers would be responsible for paying for the testing.
For more information about The Pesticide Registration – PFAS Testing – Requirements Bill (SB 158/HB 319), click here.