She fought to ban PFAS while dying of cancer. Now Minnesota has the nation's strictest law.
Minnesotans call it "Amara's Law" — named for Amara Strande.
Starting this year, it's America's strictest state law policing PFAS, compounds known as "forever chemicals." They are found in everyday products such as non-stick cookware and cosmetics and linked to childhood cancers and other health issues.
"It's in products. In humans. It's in animals. It's in the air. It's in the water. It's in fish," said Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. "And we all need to think about exposure to PFAS and ways to mitigate PFAS."
Strande was 20 and dying of liver cancer when she testified before state lawmakers about the issue in 2023.
"PFAS have created a public health crisis that has plagued my community for nearly 60 years," Strande said during her testimony.
Minnesota's new law will reduce, then eliminate, the manufacture and sale of nonessential PFAS products by 2032. 3M, a multinational corporation headquartered near Minneapolis, developed PFAS and manufactured them for decades. According to the state, PFAS waste, discarded into landfills, leached into local groundwater.
"Don't drink the 3M cancer water became the running joke at my high school," Strande testified.
There's no definitive proof PFAS caused Strande's cancer, but her convictions inspired lawmakers to act.
Michael and Nora Strande, Amara's father and sister, see the law as her legacy.
"She had a drive like no one else I know," Nora said.
"She wasn't interested in being an adversary. She was interested in being a partner in solving the issue," Michael said.
3M told CBS News it supports "...regulations based on the best available science and established regulatory practices." The company said it will stop producing PFAS by the end of this year and agreed to pay the state $850 million for a PFAS clean-up.
"One person can make a difference. You just have to have the willingness to fight the good fight," Michael said.
Strande died five weeks before the bill became law.
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