Harris administration would rein in toxic PFAS chemicals, advocates say

Researchers sort samples for experimentation as part of drinking water and PFAS research at an EPA facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 16 February 2023. Photograph: Joshua A Bickel/AP

Public health advocates are optimistic that a Kamala Harris win in the November presidential election in the US would lead to further regulation of PFAS toxic “forever chemicals”, on which the Biden administration has already taken unprecedented regulatory action.

In part that is based on past actions. Last year, Harris’s running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, signed bold legislation prohibiting the use of toxic PFAS across a range of common consumer goods from menstrual products to food packaging – a measure that is considered by public health advocates to be among the “strongest bans in the world”.