3M, DuPont Face Lawsuit Over Forever Chemicals

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• 3M and Dupont are facing charges for allegedly concealing the harmful effects of PFAS products
• The products can cause health risks such as cancer, thyroid disease, and decreased vaccine response
• On behalf of Texas state, Attorney General Ken Paxton seeks $1 million monetary relief

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton slapped charges against two chemical manufacturers over allegedly concealing the harmful effects of “forever chemicals” despite being aware of the risks.

On behalf of the state of Texas, Paxton filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemical producers 3M and DuPont for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

The petition, filed in the District Court of Johnson County, alleged that the two manufacturers had failed to disclose the environmental and health risks associated with their chemical products and misrepresented them as safe for consumers.

The petition explained how PFAS are forever chemicals which are “persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic” and which can cause health risks such as cancer, thyroid disease, or decreased vaccine response.

It also poses risks to wildlife animals and plant life, contaminating drinking water and building up in human blood.

“These companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals could cause serious harm to human health yet continued to advertise them as safe for household use around families and children,” Paxton said.

The lawsuit sought a monetary relief worth $1 million, including civil penalties, lawyers’ fees, and other charges.

‘Decades of deception’

According to the filing, 3M and DuPont for have sold consumer products which contained PFAS materials for decades under the brand names Teflon and Scotchgard.

They alleged that both companies knew the risks as early as 1960, yet continued to conceal the substantial risks from consumers and regulators.

Both manufacturers allegedly conducted studies throughout the 20th century confirming PFAS toxicity, the accumulation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)—a type of PFAS—in employees’ blood and the possibility of transferring it to fetuses during pregnancy.

‘Never manufactured PFOA or PFOS’

In a report by KXAN, DuPoint said that it never manufactured PFOA or PFOS.

“While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship,” it was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, 3M did not issue any statement as of press time.

‘Previous litigation’

Twenty years prior, DuPont faced a similar litigation case after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed administrative charges against the company for violations of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for failing to disclose PFOA toxicity and exposure information.

DuPont paid out more than $16 million in settlement in what the EPA referred to as “the largest civil administrative penalty EPA has ever obtained under any federal environmental statute” at that time.

Meanwhile, 3M also faced a $10.2-billion settlement following a lawsuit filed by the state of Florida over its PFAS product Aqueous Film Forming Foam.

The state of Texas also previously sued 3M over its AFFF product for its harmful effect on the state’s lands and waters.