A pan that never stuck. A jacket that stayed dry. A carpet that didn’t stain. Makeup that held up longer than expected. None of it felt unusual at the time.
But many of those conveniences were built around the same group of chemicals—PFAS—and New Jersey is now moving to limit where they can still be used.
In the final days of his term, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new law aimed at reducing exposure to PFAS, often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down. Once they’re out in the world, or inside the body, they tend to linger.
For years, most of the attention around PFAS focused on drinking water. Communities discovered contamination. Regulators stepped in. Standards tightened. But water turned out to be only part of the story.
A lot of exposure happens at home.
The new law targets products that intentionally use PFAS—not trace contamination, but deliberate design choices. That includes things like carpets, fabric treatments, cosmetics, and certain types of food packaging. Starting in January 2028, those products won’t be allowed to be sold in New Jersey if PFAS are part of the formula.
That doesn’t mean PFAS disappear overnight. They’re already widespread. Researchers estimate that nearly everyone carries at least small amounts of these chemicals in their bloodstream. What that means for individual health isn’t always clear, but studies have linked PFAS exposure to a range of problems, from thyroid issues to immune system changes.
Cookware falls into a different category. Rather than banning it outright, the law requires warning labels when PFAS were used in manufacturing. The idea is less about forcing behavior and more about making it visible.
There are penalties for companies that ignore the rules, and the state is also setting aside money to better track PFAS contamination across New Jersey. But for most people, the impact won’t come as a dramatic moment.
It will be quieter than that.
Products will change. Packaging will look different. Some things will simply stop being available. Others will come with labels that didn’t exist before.
Avoiding PFAS entirely is still difficult. Experts say one of the few practical steps consumers can take is paying attention to ingredient lists, especially anything that mentions fluorine or fluorinated compounds. Beyond that, much of the responsibility is shifting upstream, toward manufacturers.
The law doesn’t solve the PFAS problem. It doesn’t pretend to.
What it does do is signal that chemicals once treated as harmless defaults are being reconsidered—not because they’re dramatic, but because they’re everywhere, and they last far longer than anyone expected.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.