New Hampshire, USA, Regulates PFAS in Certain Consumer Goods

SG 129/24

New Hampshire has become the latest state in the US to ban PFAS in certain consumer products. The prohibitions will become effective on January 1, 2027.

On August 2, 2024, the governor of New Hampshire signed HB 1649 (Chapter 349, the Act) into law to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a wide variety of consumer goods.

The Act provides several terms and their definitions, including, but not limited to, the following:

• ‘Food packaging and containers’ – a container applied to or providing a means to market, protect, handle, deliver, serve, contain or store a food or beverage. Includes:
1. Unit package, intermediate package or shipping container
2. Unsealed receptacles, such as carrying cases, crates, cups, plates, bowls, pails, rigid foil and other trays, wrappers and wrapping films, bags and tubs
3. An individual assembled part of a food package, such as interior or exterior blocking, bracing, cushioning, weatherproofing, exterior strapping, coatings, closures, inks and labels
• ‘Juvenile product’ – a product designed or marketed for use by infants and children under 12 years of age, including, but not limited to, a baby or toddler foam pillow, bassinet, bedside sleeper, booster seat, changing pad, child restraint system for use in motor vehicles and aircraft, co-sleeper, crib mattress, highchair, highchair pad, infant bouncer, infant carrier, infant seat, infant sleep positioner, infant swing, infant travel bed, infant walker, nap cot, nursing pad, nursing pillow, playmat, playpen, play-yard, polyurethane foam mat, pad or pillow, portable form nap mat, portable infant sleeper, portable hook-on chair, soft-sided portable crib, stroller and toddler mattress.
• This definition exempts children’s electronic products such as a personal computers, audio and video equipment, calculators, wireless phones, game consoles, handheld devices incorporating a video screen or any associated peripheral such as a mouse, keyboard, power supply unit or power cord, medical device or adult mattress


• Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances’ or ‘PFAS’ – as defined in 40 CFR 705.3
• ‘Textile furnishings’ – textile goods of a type customarily and ordinarily used in households and businesses, including, but not limited to, bedding, draperies, floor coverings, furnishings, tablecloths and towels. The term does not include textiles used in medical or industrial settings
• ‘Upholstered furniture’ - furniture designed for sitting, resting or reclining and is wholly or stuffed or filled with filling material

Highlights of the Act are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

¹Exempts, among other things, second-hand products and products made with at least 85% recycled content.

²The Department of Environmental Services (DES) may request a certificate attesting that a product is in compliance.

The Act also prohibits intentionally added PFAS in cosmetics and feminine hygiene products.

While many US states have enacted PFAS prohibitions in a variety of consumer products, one notable deviation about this new law is its utilized PFAS definition. While most existing US states consider any fluorinated chemical containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom under its PFAS definition, New Hampshire HB 1649 references the PFAS definition as set under the US EPA PFAS reporting rule (SG 133/23), which is a smaller and more defined scope.

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