California’s PFAS law, explained for shoppers

Category-by-category bans: food packaging, juvenile products, textiles, cosmetics

California has banned intentionally added PFAS in plant-based food packaging, in juvenile products, in most new textiles including clothing (with an outdoor-gear phase-in), and in cosmetics. Cookware sellers face disclosure duties for PFAS in food-contact surfaces.

Each ban carries its own effective date and definitions, and enforcement details continue to evolve.

Product categories affected

• Food packaging
• Clothing and textiles
• Cosmetics
• Juvenile products
• Cookware disclosure

What this means when you shop

Laws phase in over years and cover sales within the state, so products with intentionally added PFAS can remain on shelves and online during transitions. The practical move is to check products yourself: every item in our database carries an Bad to Excellent PFAS grade plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis, so you can shop ahead of any deadline.

Dates, changes and the other states

California’s deadlines sit alongside every other state’s on our timeline of when each PFAS ban takes effect, and anything that moved in the last month is in what changed in state PFAS law this month. Because the bans cover sales inside a state rather than manufacturing, what a brand has published about its own PFAS use travels with the product, and that is collected in what every brand has said about PFAS.

This is a consumer overview current to early 2026, not legal advice. Verify details at the official source: California DTSC Safer Consumer Products →