During 2025, the New Mexico Legislature passed the PFAS Protection Act (HB 212) that aimed to create a phase out of PFAS-containing products within its borders. The rule established testing and reporting requirements that we have seen in several other states (Maine, Minnesota, Maine, etc.) that obligate companies to disclose PFAS content in products, with the state using this information to rapidly phase out products containing PFAS from sales within its the states’ borders. Like other states, New Mexico proposed a phased approach, with certain products (cookware, food packaging, dental floss, children’s products, firefighting foam) being phased out by January 1, 2027, other products (cosmetics, carpets, cleaning products) being phased out by January 1, 2028, and all other consumer goods required to be “PFAS free” by January 1, 2032.

As these phase outs unfold, New Mexico took the revolutionary step of also allowing the state’s environmental agency to consider whether PFAS warning labels on consumer goods are warranted. In October 2025, New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) formally proposed a rule to require consumer-facing labels on products containing intentionally added PFAS. After various public hearings, on March 23, 2026, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) officially approved the rule, making New Mexico the first state to require such labels on all products containing PFAS, even if those products are currently exempt from reporting / disclosure obligations to the state.

PFAS Warning Labels – Impact On Businesses

Without question, the labelling law accelerates the pressure companies are already under to understand their PFAS footprint – from supply chain to contamination in manufacturing to finished product and packaging. Under the requirements of states that have passed similar reporting legislation, companies typically had time to investigate these issues and ensure accurate reporting. However, the labelling law requirement forced companies to answer the fundamental question of whether a product contains PFAS in less than ten months. Companies are right to be concerned about not only needing to operate under a compressed timeline to answer a critical question, but also in assessing the consequences litigation wise that may result from labelling a product as PFAS-containing.

It is a well known fact that plaintiffs’ law firms seeking to bring companies into consumer fraud, personal injury or environmental pollution lawsuits obtain information about chemical use and product content from the information that companies publicly disclose. TSCA disclosure, TRI disclosures, and NSF disclosures are common examples of such disclosures that provide evidence for plaintiffs’ attorneys. There is no reason to believe that the PFAS warning labels that New Mexico requires would not be monitored and tracked by the same attorneys.

It is of the utmost importance that businesses along the whole supply chain in the consumer products industry evaluate their PFAS risk. Public health and environmental groups urge legislators to regulate PFAS at an ever-increasing pace. Similarly, state level EPA enforcement action is increasing at a several-fold rate every year. Now, the first wave of lawsuits take direct aim at the consumer products industry. Companies that did not manufacture PFAS, but merely utilized PFAS in their manufacturing processes, are therefore becoming targets of costly enforcement actions at rates that continue to multiply year over year. Lawsuits are also filed monthly by citizens or municipalities against companies that are increasingly not PFAS chemical manufacturers.

CMBG3 Law is following judicial, legislative, administrative, and scientific developments relating to PFAS. More information about the services we can provide, including risk assessments, to ensure your business is ready for any intersection with these substances can be found on our PFAS Litigation page.

Our attorneys have been at the forefront of PFAS issues, including giving presentations as to the future waves of litigation stemming from PFAS issues. For more information, please contact the Chair of our PFAS – Toxic Torts Team: John Gardella.