California lawmakers voted to ban “forever chemicals” in cookware and other products this week, but not everyone is happy about the move. A group of celebrity chefs—some of whom sell or endorse nonstick pots and pans that use chemicals covered by the ban—want to stop it from taking effect.
The new law targets PFAS—short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—in cookware, cleaning products, dental floss, ski wax, food packaging and certain children’s products. The bill was overwhelmingly approved late Friday by the California legislature and will now head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Read More: All The Stuff in Your Home That Might Contain PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
These man-made chemicals are known by their “forever” moniker because they are some of the most persistent class of chemicals ever made, says Scott Belcher, professor of environmental toxicology and director of North Carolina State’s Oceans and Human Health Center.
“[PFAS] are highly fluorinated, purely synthetic chemicals, and have a chemistry that had never existed on the planet until towards the end of World War II. That is partially why they’re so difficult to break down and so challenging to remove,” Belcher told TIME. “They’re really in absolutely everything globally at this point.”
Belcher, who has extensively studied PFAS, says that the California legislation is “much-needed regulation,” and mirrors attempts by the European Union to phase out and ban the chemicals.
But a group of famed chefs, some of whom boast their own line of cookware, is hoping to block the new legislation. Rachael Ray, David Chang of Momofuku in New York City, and Thomas Keller of the famed French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, California, all sent letters to the legislature urging them to reconsider the law because it includes a ban on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the substance that makes cookware nonstick.
“I respect and share the desire to protect Californians and our planet, but I urge you to look closely at the science before moving forward with legislation that could unintentionally do more harm than good. PTFEs, when manufactured and used responsibly, are proven to be safe and effective,” Ray wrote.
The chefs’ statements were compiled and shared by The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, an organization founded by two of the largest cookware producers in the world, Groupe SEB and Meyer. The group’s website says the ban would increase costs on cookware and calls the new law “a misguided proposal that would ban essential, safe, FDA-approved nonstick cookware made with the same compounds found in life-saving medical devices, such as pacemakers.” Many of the letters also argue that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes PTFE and other fluoropolymers for use with food.
Ray has her own well-known brand of cookware, while Chang has a line of nonstick frying pans and woks with the manufacturing company Meyer. Keller also has his own line of cookware produced by Hestan.
Environmental groups argue that the materials used to make pans nonstick still can be toxic when heated to high temperatures, and that non-stick-coated cookware can also release dangerous microplastics to consumers.
“It’s actually the components that are leaching out of the polymer that are used in the manufacturing process,” Belcher says, noting that the byproducts of the manufacturing can contaminate the environment.
The chefs have also caught criticism online from environmental activists like actor Mark Ruffalo, who took to X to specifically call out Ray for her opposition to the bill.
“Rachel, I share your commitment to making people confident in the kitchen,” Ruffalo wrote to her. “Getting toxic chemicals like PFAS out of your cookware is just as important as choosing the right recipe.”
Public health officials have been increasingly raising the alarm about forever chemicals in recent years. These chemicals exist in 12,000 forms, and are used to make cookware non-stick, to make clothes and carpets more stain resistant, to make food packaging repel grease, among other things. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly all Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS toxicology has been linked to decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant people, developmental delays in children, increased risk of some cancers, hormone disruption and decreased vaccine response. Still, the CDC says that since 2002, use of PFAS in the U.S. has declined, and thus some blood PFAS levels have also gone down.
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