California lawmakers are weighing whether to ban a group of chemicals known as PFAS, which are often called “forever chemicals,” in cookware. The move has pulled in celebrity chefs on one side and environmentalists, including actor Mark Ruffalo, on the other.
The proposal, Senate Bill 682, would prohibit PFAS in cookware, cleaning products, dental floss, ski wax, food packaging and certain children’s products. The state Senate has already passed the bill and sent it to the state Assembly for consideration. Lawmakers face a Friday deadline to finalize the measure and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
It’s the latest move to limit PFAS, which are a class of thousands of chemicals that have been around for more than 70 years and are widely used in a variety of consumer, commercial and industrial products due to their ability to withstand heat and repel water and stains. They are called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent in the environment and can accumulate in humans and animals.
Exposure to PFAS is linked to many negative health effects, including but not limited to kidney and testicular cancer, liver and kidney damage, and harm to the nervous and reproductive systems.
The legislation specifically points to health risks as the reason for phasing out PFAS from cookware and other products. “Exposure to PFAS poses a significant threat to the environment and public health,” the bill states.
Nearly everyone in the United States has been exposed to PFAS and has it in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. California and more than a dozen other states have in recent years taken a more cautionary stance by limiting PFAS in products.
California has already banned PFAS in carpets, textiles and firefighting foam. Now, the latest debate centers on nonstick pans. Many are treated with a chemical compound called PTFE, a type of PFAS better known as Teflon, which coats millions of pans.
Chefs push back
The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, which describes itself as a group of cookware manufacturers, designers and engineers, has rallied high-profile culinary stars to oppose the bill. Chefs including Rachael Ray, Thomas Keller of the famed French Laundry restaurant in Napa, Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster in Harlem, and David Chang of Momofuku in New York City all submitted letters to lawmakers arguing nonstick pans are safe when manufactured and used correctly.
“I respect and share the desire to protect Californians and our planet, but I urge you to look closely at the science before moving forward with legislation that could unintentionally do more harm than good,” Ray wrote. “PTFEs, when manufactured and used responsibly, are proven to be safe and effective.”
Some chefs also argue that banning nonstick pans could make cooking more difficult and costly for families. “Alternatives often do not perform with the same consistency, which can undermine the very goal of helping people cook nourishing meals at home,” chef Einat Admony of Balaboosta in New York City wrote in her letter.
“We base everything on chemistry, on science,” Steve Burn, executive director of the Cookware Sustainability Alliance, said in an interview with CBS News. “The Teflon coating around a nonstick pan is a fluoropolymer. Technically it falls under the PFAS family, but fluoropolymers have been shown for decades to be inert and non-harmful.”
The cookware industry says the bill unfairly targets a material that regulators, like the Food and Drug Administration, have repeatedly approved and deemed safe. “Since the 1960s, the FDA has authorized PTFE and other fluoropolymers for use in food-contact applications,” Burn said. “As recently as early 2025, the FDA reaffirmed that PTFE in nonstick coatings remains approved.”
The environmental community responds
Environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group have pushed back against the industry, saying everyday use of Teflon-coated cookware can release PFAS particles or fumes, especially when pans are scratched or overheated.
“PTFE is basically a plasticized version of PFAS,” said Anna Reade, the NRDC’s director of PFAS advocacy. She disagrees with industry claims that Teflon is safe because when nonstick cookware is overheated, she says, PFAS emissions come off the pans and can be inhaled or absorbed by the food cooking in the pan. A small scientific study supports Reade’s claim.
“The other concern is that when you flake off and scrub off PTFE, you’re breaking it into really small pieces,” Reade said. Studies also suggest scratched pans may shed microplastics that could end up in food.
Actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred in the 2019 film “Dark Waters” about PFAS contamination and is an outspoken critic of “forever chemicals,” weighed in on social platform X with an open letter to Ray. “Independent science shows that the PFAS in cookware can wind up in our food,” Ruffalo wrote. He went on to urge her to support the bill “from the bottom of my heart.”
California state Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat from Southern California who proposed the legislation, has also been vocal on social media pushing back against criticisms of the bill. “PFAS have invaded every part of the world around us, including our very bodies and the food and water we consume,” he told CBS News. “SB 682 is a modest attempt to phase out more PFAS in California by focusing only on products which already face bans across the nation because safer alternatives widely exist in the marketplace.”
Allen emphasizes that the legislation aims to phase out PFAS in cookware and other items where substitutes exist. In place of nonstick cookware, stainless steel and cast-iron pans are possible replacements because they do not include Teflon coatings.