Ending their use and addressing the harm
Many chemicals once in widespread use have been banned because of the harm they cause to people and wildlife. DDT, PCBs, Dioxin, and asbestos were all once in widespread use, but are now banned. However, there are thousands of chemicals in use today that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, and other harms to human health. Many of these chemicals are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. MCEA is one reason that Minnesota is a national leader in identifying toxic chemicals and ending their use in favor of safer alternatives.
MCEA uses our in-house expertise to identify toxic chemicals, find out where the impacts are heaviest, and create policies that reduce their use and public exposure. In 2020, MCEA was part of a coalition that successfully lobbied for and passed a ban on toxic trichloroethylene (TCE) at the Minnesota Legislature. MCEA also helped enact a nation leading ban on PFAS, or perflouroalkyl substances, in 2023. We continue to advocate for a polluter-pay model in remediating these forever-chemicals in our environment.
No Minnesotan should experience preventable health risks due to exposure to toxic chemicals. Today, after months of hard work with community members, we were able to pass a strong TCE ban with bipartisan support.
Rep. Ami Wazlawik
What's at Stake
Minnesota continues to be a national leader in identifying and responding to toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, victories like the toxic TCE ban can only prevent future pollution, they can’t clean up past pollution. Minnesotans, particularly metro area residents, are dealing with widespread PFAS pollution of the groundwater that they rely on for drinking and area lakes. MCEA’s approach on toxic chemicals like PFAS is to push for policy changes to clean up pollution and reduce exposure. Meanwhile, emerging science will continue to identify new threats to human health. MCEA is there on the cutting edge - identifying threats as they emerge and using our tools to find solutions.
By the numbers
33 PFAS polluted lakes
33 lakes require fish consumption advisories, many more are likely to be added
$850 million settlement over PFAS pollution
3M’s settlement was large, but time will tell if it is enough to address the risks
80 permitted TCE users
In 2018, there were 80 facilities using enough TCE to require a permit
1st state that banned TCE
Minnesota became the first state in the U.S. to ban TCE in 2020, New York followed in 2021 - these are the only two states to have banned the chemical
