PFAS Ground Zero Revisited: Checking In On Maine And Minnesota

In many ways, Maine and Minnesota had the first words on the regulation of PFAS in the U.S. Their broad definitions of the chemicals set the stage for similar regulation across the continent. So when legislators in both states nearly simultaneously propose to shrink those definitions, it bears watching.

• Maine considers exempting fluoropolymer-coated cookware. On March 4, 2025, Senator Jeffrey Timberlake (R) introduced a bill in the Maine Senate proposing to exempt certain polymer-coated cookware from the state's PFAS in Products law, marking the latest in a series of amendments to the legislation. As the state's January 1, 2026, ban on cookware approaches, Sen. Timberlake's bill specifically proposes to exclude polymer-coated durable items that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes for food contact from the ban's definition of "cookware product" and to exempt cookware products with direct food contact surfaces containing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE),