StatePublicHealth.org

• State Seek to Address PFAS Exposure Through Food Packaging

  Over the past few years, rising health concerns related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have resulted in state policymakers taking action to reduce and regulate PFAS exposure. PFAS are a family of man-made chemicals that have been used for decades in industrial and consumer products such as water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics, paints, firefighting foams, and cookware. During production and use, PFAS can migrate into soil, water, and air. Because of their wide use and the fact that they do not easily breakdown in the environment, PFAS can accumulate over time in people and animals. In some instances, exposure to and absorption of certain PFAS has been associated with harmful health effects. .

• Alexander Billioux: Public Health’s Role in Screening for Health-Related Social Needs

  Alexander Billioux, MD, DPhil, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, has a vision that moves beyond screening for health-related social needs toward investments in upstream improvements to SDOH in Louisiana. Having previously served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Incentives and Infrastructure at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Billioux has dual expertise in the federal and state-level policy landscapes. His work illustrates the role public health agencies play in leading healthcare delivery system efforts to address both individual health-related social needs and community-wide SDOH. .

• Legislation to Increase Access to Narcotics Testing Products

  Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain reliever that is 50-100 times more potent than morphine and approved for treating severe pain. While pharmaceutical fentanyl can be diverted for misuse, most recent fentanyl overdose deaths involve illicitly-manufactured fentanyl (IMF), which is sold through illegal drug markets for its heroin-like effects and often mixed with heroin or cocaine with or without the user’s knowledge. Confiscations, or seizures, of fentanyl increased by nearly seven-fold from 2012 to 2014 and in 2016, the number of overdose deaths involving IMF surpassed heroin and prescription opioid deaths in the United States for the first time. .