Coca-Cola Asks Judge to Dismiss Simply Juice PFAS Suit

A proposed class action alleging that Coca-Cola’s Simply-brand juices contain PFAS does not state a plausible claim for relief, Coca-Cola told the Southern District of New York on July 31, 2024.

The plaintiff in Lurenz v. The Coca-Cola Co. alleges that laboratory testing revealed “widespread and uniform” PFAS contamination in Simply juices at levels detrimental to human health.  As a result, the claims made on Simply products—including that the beverages are “All Natural” and “made simply” with “all-natural ingredients”—would mislead a reasonable consumer, the most recent complaint asserts.

The court dismissed the initial complaint for lack of standing in June, but allowed the plaintiff to file a new complaint.  In response, Coca-Cola filed a letter requesting a conference before the company files another motion to dismiss.  The letter argues that the new complaint’s allegations are “even vaguer” than those previously dismissed, making it “impossible to tell” when the plaintiff purchased the contested products.  The plaintiff “still cannot show a concrete economic harm needed to establish Article III standing,” Coca-Cola says.

In addition, Coca-Cola argues that the new complaint still provides insufficient factual detail about the testing that revealed PFAS contamination, which was a factor in the earlier dismissal.  Even if the testing allegations are deemed sufficient, Coca-Cola asserts that the all-natural claims are not misleading.  “[N]o reasonable consumer would understand PFAS—a substance that is not intentionally added to the [juices]—to be an ingredient,” the letter states.

The case is similar to an ongoing suit against L’Oréal, the cosmetics company, for alleged PFAS contamination.  A blog post on that case, written after a dismissal due to standing issues, can be found here.

EPA Proposes to Designate Five Substances as High Priority

On July 25, 2024, EPA published a notice proposing to designate a new batch of existing chemicals as high priority substances under section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  TSCA section 6 requires EPA to continually designate existing chemicals as “high-priority” based on factors including hazard and exposure potential.  Once a high priority designation is made, EPA is required to conduct a risk evaluation and regulate the chemical if it is found to present an unreasonable risk.

If the notice is finalized as proposed, EPA would immediately initiate risk evaluations for the following five substances:

  • Vinyl Chloride (CASRN 75-01-4)
  • Acetaldehyde (CASRN 75-07-0)
  • Acrylonitrile (CASRN 107-13-1)
  • Benzenamine (CASRN 62-53-3)
  • 4,4’-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA) (CASRN 101-14-4)

According to an EPA press release, vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen linked to liver, brain, and lung cancer in exposed workers.  In the release, EPA stated that vinyl chloride’s health hazards helped motivate the passage of TSCA in 1976.

The press release noted that the other four substances are probable human carcinogens and that some pose other types of hazards, such as respiratory and reproductive harms.  All five substances are used to make plastic; vinyl chloride is mostly used to make polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC.

EPA announced that it was beginning the process of prioritizing these chemicals in December 2023.  In that announcement, EPA also stated that that it “expects to initiate prioritization on five chemicals every year, which will create a sustainable and effective pace for risk evaluations.”

Comments on the notice are due October 23, 2024.

Kansas City Grocers Ordered to Stop Selling Illegally-Imported Disinfectants

On May 6, 2024, EPA Region 7 announced that 17 grocery stores in the Kansas City area had been ordered to stop the sale and use of certain Fabuloso-brand cleaners and other disinfectants because of potential health risks.  The orders, issued by the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Agriculture in partnership with EPA, require the stores to immediately remove the illegal products from their shelves.

According to EPA’s press release, the products contain glutaraldehyde, an active ingredient not approved for household disinfectant use in the U.S. due to its potential health risks. These risks include “throat and lung irritation, asthma and difficulty breathing, dermatitis, nasal irritation, sneezing, wheezing, burning eyes, and conjunctivitis.”

EPA says that the products were illegally imported.  The press release states that their labels are primarily in Spanish and that the affected grocers “serve Hispanic communities.”

It is important to note that not all Fabuloso products are unsafe.  There is also an EPA approved US version of Fabuloso which does not contain glutaraldehyde.  According to the press release, some stores subject to the orders sold both the illegal and the approved US versions of the disinfectants.

Class Action Against Coca-Cola for “100% Recyclable” Claims Advances

A proposed class action against Coca-Cola and other companies selling bottled water can proceed after the plaintiffs provided survey results indicating that consumers may be misled by Coca-Cola’s recyclability claims, the Northern District of California ruled in the case Swartz v. The Coca-Cola Co., No. 3:21-cv-04643.

Crucial to the case are the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, which provide guidance for environmental marketing claims and are codified into California law.  The Green Guides allow marketers to make unqualified recyclable claims “if the entire product or package, excluding minor incidental components, is recyclable” by facilities available to “at least 60 percent” of Californians.

The plaintiffs initially alleged that the defendants’ “100% Recyclable” claims are false and misleading because most of the bottles are not recycled in practice.  The judge rejected that argument, stating that reasonable consumers would not understand the claims “to mean that the entire product will always be recycled.”  The plaintiff’s next complaint placed greater emphasis on the bottles’ caps and labels, which are allegedly not recyclable.  However, the court found inadequate factual support for their claims, which were also undermined because bottle caps and labels constitute minor components under the Green Guides.

The plaintiffs’ newest complaint overcomes those shortfalls, Judge James Donato ruled on April 8, 2024.  The survey results indicate that consumers understand the defendant’s claims to mean the entire bottle (including bottle caps and labels) are recyclable, and the defendants “expressly qualify” their recyclability as “100%.”  As a result, the plaintiffs can plausibly allege that “these representations to consumers are different from” unqualified claims protected by the Green Guides, he said.

The court also determined that there was sufficient factual support for the plaintiffs’ deception claims to move forward.  Because the defendant’s product labels are “disposed of as refuse” by facilities responsible for over 40% of the relevant type of bottle recycling in California, it is plausible that the “defendant’s products are not capable of being ‘100%’ recycled by plants in California,” the court ruled.

The lawsuit consolidates actions brought separately by consumers and the Sierra Club.  In addition to Coca-Cola, the suit names BlueTriton Brands and Niagara Bottling as defendants.  Between the three companies, water bottles are sold under the brand labels Dasani, Deer Park, Poland Spring, Niagara, Kirkland Signature, and others.

 

EPA Grants Petition to Address PFAS Created by Plastic Fluorination

On July 10, 2024, EPA granted a citizen petition from environmental groups encouraging EPA to take Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 6 action for three PFAS substances produced during the fluorination of plastic containers.

The petition alleges that the three PFAS—PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA—pose a variety of serious human health hazards, even at extremely low exposures.  The petition cites EPA’s December 2023 response to significant new use notices filed by Inhance Technologies (“Inhance”), a fluorination company, for substances including PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA.  As discussed in a previous blog post, EPA found that Inhance’s production of the three PFAS presents an unreasonable risk and ordered Inhance to stop producing the chemicals under TSCA section 5, which allows EPA to regulate new substances and significant new uses.

Inhance challenged EPA’s order.  In March, the Fifth Circuit ruled that EPA could not regulate Inhance under TSCA section 5 because Inhance’s fluorination process had been in place for decades; a blog post on the decision can be found here.  However, the court noted that EPA is free to regulate Inhance’s fluorination process under section 6, which allows EPA to restrict existing substances.  Unlike section 5, section 6 requires EPA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis that considers a substance’s benefits and what the economic consequences of regulation would be.

In its letter granting the petition, EPA said that the agency will initiate “an appropriate proceeding under TSCA Section 6 associated with the formation” of the three PFAS during plastic container fluorination.  As part of the proceeding, “EPA intends to request information, including the number, location, and uses of fluorinated containers in the United States; alternatives to the fluorination process that generates PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA; and measures to address risk from PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA formed during the fluorination of plastic containers.”

EPA Proposes to Restrict Use of N-Methylpyrrolidone

Multiple occupational uses of n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) would be banned and others would be restricted under a proposed rule published by EPA on June 14, 2024.  The proposed rule follows EPA’s 2020 determination that NMP presents an unreasonable risk to human health due to health effects including fetal death and reduced fertility.

According to the proposed rule, NMP is a widely used solvent with applications in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, “semiconductors, polymers, petrochemical products, paints and coatings, and paint and coating removers.”  2020 Chemical Data Reporting rule data indicates that total annual production ranged from 100–250 million pounds from 2016 to 2019, EPA says.

The proposed rule would ban the manufacture, processing, distribution, and use of NMP for industrial and commercial use in lubricants, anti-freeze products, automotive care products, and cleaning products, among others.  All industrial and commercial uses not prohibited would be subject to a workplace chemical protection program (WCPP) to minimize direct dermal contact with NMP through incorporation of the hierarchy of controls.  Where controls are insufficient, EPA proposes to require implementation of a PPE program.

The proposed rule would also implement prescriptive controls for certain industrial and commercial uses, such as capping the allowed concentration of NMP in industrial and commercial paints and stains at 45%. Similar concentration maximums would apply to a handful of consumer products, including adhesives.

Although no consumer products would be banned, EPA proposes to implement container size limitations and labelling requirements for some consumer uses, including paint removers, paints, automotive care products, and cleaning products.

EPA proposes that the bans take effect under a staggered schedule, varying from one to two years after publication depending on whether an entity is a manufacturer, processor, distributor, or user of NMP.  Private entities subject to WCPP requirements would have one year to establish the program, and consumer product container size limitations and labelling requirements would also take effect after one year.

Comments on the proposed rule are due on July 29, 2024.

OEHHA Proposes Additional Changes to Prop 65 Warning Requirements

On June 13, 2024, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice proposing changes to Proposition 65’s warning requirements.  The proposed changes revise proposed amendments to Proposition 65 published in October 2023, discussed in a previous blog post.

If implemented, the June 2024 proposal would revise the October 2023 proposal by:

  • Delaying the required use of the new short-form warning content from two years to three years after the amendments take effect.
  • Abandoning many of the proposed changes for internet purchases and catalogues. For example, the June 2024 proposal removes the October 2023 proposal’s requirement that internet retailers provide a warning on the shipped product (in addition to the online warning already required).
  • Including a 60-day grace period for internet retailers to update their online short-form warnings after they are notified that a product will have new warning content.

A document showing the proposed changes to the October 2023 proposal can be found here.  Comments on the proposed changes are due June 28.

Proposition 65, officially known as the as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, requires businesses in California to warn customers when products contain chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm.

EPA Tightens Emissions Standards for Chemical Plants

The synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry and some polymer manufacturers will face more stringent emissions limitations under a final rule published by EPA on May 16, 2024.  The rule primarily targets emissions from chloroprene and ethylene oxide, which are linked to cancer in humans.

The final rule amends the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and New Source Performance Standards for these facilities, which number about 200.  Emissions limitations include requirements to improve flare efficiency and stronger standards for heat exchange systems, process vents, and storage vessels.

According to an EPA fact sheet, covered facilities “must meet risk-based requirements for reducing [ethylene oxide] within two years after the rule becomes effective and must meet risk-based standard for reducing chloroprene within 90 days after” the rule takes effect July 15, 2024.

The final rule also mandates fenceline monitoring for facilities that use, produce, store, or emit chloroprene, ethylene oxide, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene dichloride, or vinyl chloride.  Neoprene production facilities will be subject to lower action levels for chloroprene and shorter compliance deadlines than other facilities.

Previous EPA regulations had included general exemptions from emission control requirements during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction.  The final rule eliminates those exemptions, which courts have deemed impermissible under the Clean Air Act.

In a press release, EPA stated that the final rule will reduce ethylene oxide “and chloroprene emissions from covered processes and equipment by nearly 80%,” reducing “the number of people with elevated cancer risk by 96% in communities near plants that emit” those chemicals.

Maine PFAS Law Triggers Class Action Against BIC in California

Customers in California have filed a class action lawsuit against BIC USA, Inc. (“BIC”), a razor manufacturer, over allegations of PFAS use discovered through BIC’s compliance with a Maine PFAS reporting law.

In 2021, Maine enacted legislation requiring companies to disclose whether their products contain intentionally added PFAS by January 1, 2023.  Although a subsequent law extended this deadline to 2025, some companies had already submitted PFAS information to Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection.  According to the complaint, a Freedom of Access Act request by a public advocacy group revealed that BIC had disclosed the use of PFAS as a lubricant in its razor blades.

The plaintiffs argue that they would not have purchased BIC razors for the price they paid had they known they contained PFAS.  Without a disclosure to the contrary, the complaint asserts that “[n]o reasonable customer would expect that shaving razors would contain dangerous PFAS, which are indisputably linked to harmful health effects in humans.”

The lawsuit alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, among other claims.  The plaintiffs seek injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.

The Maine legislature substantially revised the state’s PFAS reporting requirements in April, discussed in a previous blog post.  Under the amended law, reporting requirements will only apply to “currently unavoidable uses” starting in 2032.

The case is Butler v. BIC USA Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 4:24-cv-02955, filed May 15.

Maine Revises PFAS in Products Legislation

Maine’s reporting requirements for products containing PFAS will be narrowed, and incremental category-specific bans will be adopted under a new law enacted April 16, 2024.  The law, LD 1537, revises landmark 2021 legislation that implemented a general ban on the sale of products containing intentionally added PFAS starting in 2030 and mandated reporting in the interim.

Narrowed reporting requirements

The new law scraps the old law’s “general notification requirement,” which would have required manufacturers to report information on products containing intentionally added PFAS by January 1, 2023 (later delayed to 2025).  Under LD 1537, reporting will only be required for “currently unavoidable uses” beginning in 2032.

As was the case previously, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection will be tasked with determining what uses are currently unavoidable.  The department solicited requests for proposals from manufacturers seeking currently unavoidable use determinations beginning in January of this year.  However, in light of the new law, the department says on its website that it anticipates currently unavoidable use determinations to begin in 2025.

New timeline for banned products

LD 1537 pushes back the general sales prohibition for products containing intentionally added PFAS from 2030 to 2032.  However, the new law introduces many product category-specific bans.  Certain categories will now be subject to more aggressive deadlines, and a few will not be banned until 2040.

The new sales bans for products containing intentionally added PFAS are as follows:

  • Effective January 1, 2026: cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics, dental floss, juvenile products, menstruation products, textile articles (excluding outdoor apparel for extreme wet conditions and textiles for watercraft, aircraft, or motor vehicles), ski wax, and upholstered furniture.
  • Effective January 1, 2029: artificial turf and outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions (unless it includes a PFAS disclosure).
  • Effective January 1, 2032: all other products containing intentionally added PFAS except for currently unavoidable uses and those subject to a ban in 2040.
  • Effective January 1, 2040: HVAC equipment, refrigeration equipment, refrigerants, foams, and aerosol propellants.

LD 1537 additionally excludes certain product categories from all requirements, including firefighting foams, medical devices/drugs, veterinary products, motor vehicles/motor vehicle equipment, watercraft, and semiconductors.

Other changes

Under the new law, products that do not contain intentionally added PFAS are still subject to the above bans if they are sold in a container that contains intentionally added PFAS.  Importantly, this includes fluorinated containers.

LD 1537 also increases the minimum number of employees for a manufacturer to be subject to reporting requirements from 26 to 101.

More information on LD 1537 can be found at Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection website.