A federal judge has ruled that New Mexico’s PFAS labeling rule, which was announced earlier this year, infringes on commercially protected speech. As a result, the regulation has been temporarily halted.
The labeling rule is part of the New Mexico PFAS Protection Act and would require manufacturers to label consumer products that contain PFAS beginning in 2027. Manufacturers would have to display a universal symbol on any product containing intentionally added PFAS, with the universal symbol being a black Erlenmeyer flask with “PFAS” written inside.
The ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Margaret Strickland follows a lawsuit filed in July by several small-business organizations challenging the regulation.
In her order, Strickland wrote that New Mexico failed to demonstrate how the label “is a rational vehicle to achieve the goals of protecting consumer and environmental health,” and added that “the state proclaims the regulation exists to raise consumer awareness, but underneath intends the label to operate as a warning in disguise.”
The business organizations argued that the regulation is “unconstitutional” and violates “First Amendment rights of companies by compelling them to spread the State’s unsupported message that PFAS-containing products are dangerous,” according to the complaint.
While the PFAS labeling rule has been halted, the other regulations in the state’s PFAS Protection Act, including product bans, remain effective.
For more information about PFAS regulations in the U.S., visit Advanced Textiles Association’s PFAS Resource Center at textiles.org/education/pfas-resource-center.
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