New York City is suing several major chemical companies for contaminating the environment with PFAS, commonly known as forever chemicals.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses major chemical companies, including DuPont de Nemours and 3M, of knowingly and permanently contaminating the state’s environment with chemicals linked to health problems such as cancer and birth defects. The lawsuit alleges that the manufacturer misled the public by making consumer products containing PFAS and failing to warn the public about the risks.
The state is seeking a court order to stop selling products containing PFAS without warning labels to consumers and to hold companies accountable for the environmental and public health impacts of exposure from their products. Chemours Company and Corteva are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“Large companies like 3M and DuPont have knowingly sold harmful products that threaten the health of New Yorkers and pollute the environment for decades. It’s time for them to pay for the damage they’ve caused,” James said.
The suit alleges that the companies have known for nearly 50 years that the chemicals used in their products were toxic. If the lawsuit is successful, the companies would have to fund cleanup efforts across the state, put appropriate warnings on their products, and pay damages, restitution and fines.
“For too long, our communities have disproportionately borne the cost of protecting people from these forever toxic chemicals and cleaning up contamination. I look forward to ensuring that the companies responsible for PFAS contamination are held accountable,” James said.
Permanently toxic chemicals are often found in water and oil repellent products, such as 3M’s Scotchgard, a popular spray-on shield that prevents stains on fabrics such as carpets and upholstery, according to a 2020 Indiana University study. Other everyday uses for these products using PFAS include wet-proof coatings on food packaging and soap-like foams used by firefighters to put out jet fuel fires.
Permanently toxic chemicals are also used in cosmetics, nonstick cookware and clothing, according to the attorney general’s office.
In December 2022, 3M announced that it would phase out PFAS from its products by the end of 2025.
Chemours, 3M, Corteva and DuPont did not respond to requests for comment.
PFAS were developed about 80 years ago for water and stain resistance. According to the attorney general, 3M scientists discovered PFAS in employee blood samples as early as the 1970s. In 1981, DuPont secretly monitored 50 female employees exposed to PFAS, including seven who were pregnant, the attorney general said. Two of the seven pregnant workers gave birth to babies with birth defects. The company has chosen not to provide information to employees, regulators or the public. Instead, it continued to manufacture and sell those products.
