Team Tackling Toxics 2025, PFAS Whitepaper, Legislators Receive a Copy of Forever Fables: Meet Poly!
Advocates Recognize Legislative “Team Tackling Toxics” for Leadership in PFAS Legislation
New “Forever Fables” Picture Book Series Launched Bringing PFAS Forever Chemicals to life in the form of an eerie character named Poly
With Time Running Out, Advocates Urge Team Tackling Toxics to Score Important Laws Before the Buzzer Rings on Session
(ALBANY, N.Y.) — Today, advocates in the JustGreen Partnership and PFAS-Free NY campaign announced a “Team Tackling Toxics” comprised of NYS Senators and Assemblymembers praised for their leadership on PFAS bills for the 2025 session. Based on sponsorship or cosponsorship of 14 bills, with higher scores for bills that “turn off the tap” on toxic PFAS by banning its use in products, moderate scores for bills that address significant systems (like packaging) or PFAS in air, water and soil, and lower scores for bills that address smaller sectors or are only introduced in one house.
Overall, the advocates identified:
10 MVPs - prime sponsors of Tier 1 and Tier 2 bills. This includes 6 Senators and 4 Assembly members.
38 Team Players - scoring 10+ points in our rubric. This includes 8 Senators and 30 Assemblymembers (based on published cosponsorships on May 19).
More details about the selection and who is on the Team are here.
PFAS are a class of synthetic “forever chemicals” that accumulate in the environment and our bodies that contribute to health conditions like: hormone disruption, infertility, organ disruption, and even cancer. Chemicals within the PFAS class can be found in personal care products like lotion, make-up, shaving cream, ect and everyday consumer products like: cookware, rugs, textiles, dental floss, ski wax, and more.
“There is a near-constant barrage of scientific evidence underscoring the need for urgent action on PFAS. We’re pleased to introduce the 2025 Team Tackling Toxics. We’re in the last quarter of session, the clock is winding down, and the opposition is trying any play they can to keep profiting from these toxic chemicals. But the Team Tacking Toxics is strong and we know New York can score some serious touchdowns for our health and environment,” said Bobbi Wilding, Executive Director of Clean+Healthy, which co-leads the JustGreen Partnership.
As a way to educate people on the dangers of PFAS, Clean+Healthy, in partnership with FCB Cure, released their first story of a three part picturebook series, Forever Fables: Meet Poly. They have placed copies in Little Free Libraries around Albany, NY, and are delivering copies to the full legislature. The book's eerie storyline and illustrations educate readers on the dangers of PFAS in our everyday lives; highlighting the concern we should all have about PFAS infiltrating our everyday products. A new website accompanies the book: foreverfables.org
As a companion piece, Clean+Healthy released a whitepaper, PFAS: The Meaning of Forever, providing the scientific context as to where PFAS are found and why the “forever chemicals” need to be eliminated from products to protect ourselves and the environment.
Advocates use the Whitepaper, and Forever Fables as sources for why PFAS legislation needs to advance in New York State. Legislation has already passed restricting PFAS in clothing to be sold in NYS and in firefighter foam. In addition, the Ban on PFAS & Toxic Chemical in Menstrual Products Bill has passed the Senate and Assembly; and is currently awaiting Governor Hochul’s signature into law.
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Below: Quote Sheet for Legislators, Quote Sheet for Advocates
Attached: Team Tackling Toxics Announcement
PFAS: The Meaning of Forever Whitepaper
QUOTE SHEET FOR LEGISLATORS
Said Senator Lea Webb, “I am honored to be named one of Team Tackling Toxic’s MVPs! I applaud the Clean and Healthy coalition for their new book, Meet Poly, which will help educate the public about the dangers of forever chemicals. We are working to pass policies to ban PFAS and other harmful chemicals from our water, our environment, and the everyday products we use on our bodies. New York has the opportunity to be a leader in environmental health and justice by protecting vulnerable groups who are disproportionately impacted by these chemicals. We are saying no to forever chemicals. I am proud to be fighting alongside the Clean and Healthy coalition for a PFAS-free New York.”
Senator Hoylman-Sigal said: “I’m proud to have been named an MVP by Clean+Healthy but more so, I am grateful to them for their dedication to protecting the environment and the public health of New Yorkers. After years of progress targeting specific industries, we are now closer than ever to passing our legislation to phase out the sale of a wide range of products containing intentionally added PFAS (S.187A). With the help of Clean+Healthy we are going to get these cancer causing pollutants out of New York State once and for all.”
Senator Robert Jackson said: “PFAS is the poison hiding in plain sight—seeping into our faucets, our food, our future. It’s not just in the water. It’s in the wounds of communities left behind, in the quiet calculations that put profit over people. I didn’t come to Albany to rubber-stamp that reality—I came to rewrite it. Being part of the Team Tackling Toxics isn’t a finish line—it’s a signal to keep pushing. Because every child deserves a future free from toxic threats, and every community deserves leaders who won’t look away. Until these forever chemicals are gone, our commitment must remain just as permanent.”
Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick said, “PFAS has inundated our daily lives through the products we use, the food and water we consume, and the trash we landfill and incinerate. Unfortunately New Yorkers were not given a choice as to whether we should introduce these dangerous and long persisting chemicals into nearly every facet of daily life and into the environment. We must put an end to the unchecked introduction of these chemicals into our bodies and our air, water, and soil by stopping its use in products unless its use is unavoidable and necessary. I am proud to stand with my colleagues and advocates who have prioritized putting an end to this large scale environmental crisis before it gets worse.”
Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF - Manhattan), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing said, “Over just the last few months, the Trump administration has rolled back clean air and clean water protections, slashed critical research funding, begun to dismantle protections against harmful PFAS chemicals and denied the climate crisis at every turn. We cannot allow our climate to be further decimated by an administration dead set on protecting polluters - it is up to us to act. From safeguarding our water to combating pollution and continuing our efforts to expand clean energy and rid products of harmful chemicals, now is the time for New York State to take bold action and protect our planet for generations to come.”
Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin said, “I’m honored to be recognized as part of the Team Tackling Toxics and proud to stand alongside my colleagues in fighting to eliminate harmful PFAS chemicals from our everyday lives. These ‘forever chemicals’ pose serious risks to our health and environment, and we must act with urgency and resolve. As someone deeply committed to public health and environmental protection, I believe our legislative efforts are critical to building a safer, healthier New York. I thank Clean+Healthy NY, the JustGreen Partnership and PFAS-Free NY for their tireless advocacy and for shining a spotlight on this important issue. Together, we can turn the tide on toxic exposure and protect future generations.”
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein said, “I am proud to be recognized by Clean+Healthy as part of the Team Tackling Toxics through PFAS regulation. This is a social justice issue and it is important to advocate for people impacted by toxic chemicals, which are overwhelmingly people of color.”
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said, “I'm honored to be recognized in Clean+Healthy's Team Tackling Toxics. PFAS chemicals are incredibly toxic and durable, hence their nickname, 'forever chemicals.' We now have evidence that shows that many of the executives of the companies that profit off the proliferation of these chemicals knew for decades that they were ending up in places they didn't belong, including in human blood. They chose to protect their exorbitant profits over protecting the health of humans, animals, and the natural environment. By aggressively fighting for legislation that bans PFAS, we can begin to slow the damage caused by these dangerous and pervasive chemicals. Only by doing so can we begin to get our arms around the problem and begin restoring healthy systems.”
Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D-104) said, “For me, the problem of forever chemicals is not theoretical, but personal. I live in the City of Newburgh, which had its water supply permanently polluted with PFAS chemicals from Stewart Airport's fire-fighting foam. It poisoned the aquifers leading into Washington Lake, making that water source undrinkable. There is no safe level of forever chemicals, which is why they should be banned from our water, products and packaging. This includes a ban on sludge and wastewater in fertilizer, which introduces PFAS chemicals into our food and water supplies.”
Assemblymember Levenberg said, “As the federal government looks to weaken rules that protect us from the harms of toxic chemicals like PFAS, I am pushing for New York to raise its PFAS standards. Non-toxic alternatives exist, and it is absurd that our president would rather allow industry to poison us than require them to use these alternatives. I will always stand with my constituents on the side of health and safety, and I'm proud to have received an A on the PFAS Legislative Scorecard.”
QUOTE SHEET FOR ADVOCATES
Briana Carbajal, State Legislative Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice said, "PFAS is in our water, cookware, menstrual products, beauty products and so much more. Repeated exposure through different pathways is making us sick, with communities of color being most vulnerable to cumulative exposure. We are grateful to the 2025 legislative Team Tackling Toxics for introducing bills that protect us from these carcinogenic classes of chemicals. We need to pass our priority list of PFAS bills this session, especially the Beauty Justice Act, to turn off major sources of PFAS in our lived environment.”
Kate Donovan, Senior Attorney & Northeast Director of Environmental Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) said, "PFAS will never stop threatening our communities and environment if it continues to be used and manufactured. Alarmingly, PFAS is commonly used in products that we come into contact with daily — like cleaning products, personal care items, and cosmetics. Regular use of these household and personal care products puts everyday New Yorkers at risk. That’s why we are so grateful for these New York legislative power players fighting for a PFAS-Free NY."
Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation Program Manager, at the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter said, "Our communities throughout New York are inundated by exposures to toxic PFAS 'forever chemicals' each and every day, and in ways that we don't even realize. Ridding our environment of these ubiquitous toxins will improve public health and help to reduce the costs of healthcare and expensive filtration of drinking water. The Sierra Club is grateful for the leadership shown by these Legislators in championing this package of bills in both houses this year, as we advocate for toxic-free air, water, and soil. We look forward to getting these bills across the finish line this legislative session."
"PFAS contamination is one of the most pervasive and insidious public health threats of our time.” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “These chemicals are poisoning our drinking water, our food, and our bodies, the only way to stop it is to turn off the tap at the source. We applaud the Senate and Assembly members named to the 2025 'Team Tackling Toxics' for stepping up to protect public health and the environment. Their leadership is critical to passing the comprehensive, common-sense legislation we need to get PFAS out of products, out of our homes, and out of our environment. With just a few weeks of session left, the time to act is now! New Yorkers deserve a future free from forever chemicals."
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Clean+Healthy is an environmental health and justice advocacy organization based in Albany, NY with a mission to build a just+healthy world where toxic chemicals are simply unthinkable. Learn more at cleanandhealthy.org