forever chemicals News

3M Will Stop Producing ‘Forever Chemical’ PFAS by End of 2025

3M Co., confronting regulatory pressure and lawsuits that threaten billions of dollars in damages, will stop making so-called forever chemicals and aim to discontinue their use in products by the end of 2025. The announcement marks a historic break with …

3M Faces Claim in Netherlands Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ Pollution

The Netherlands’s government is exploring its legal options against chemical giant 3M over pollution in the Dutch part of the Scheldt River. For years, the company’s Antwerp, Belgium-based factory seeped contaminated groundwater into the Scheldt, a 350-kilometer (217-mile) river that …

Call to Phase Out ‘Forever Chemicals’ Gains Investor Momentum

Investors managing $8 trillion in assets have written to the world’s biggest chemicals companies urging them to phase out the use of so-called forever chemicals that can accumulate in the environment and remain hazardous for generations. Known as PFAS, which …

Michigan Property Owners, 3M Settle PFAS Case for $54 Million

A judge has given tentative approval to a $54 million settlement involving 3M Co., a shoe manufacturer and property owners in western Michigan who said their land and wells were contaminated by toxic “forever chemicals.” The deal involves approximately 1,700 …

3M Belgian Settlement Signals Increased Risk of ‘Toxic Torts’ in Europe

“Toxic torts,” which are lawsuits alleging damage to human health or the environment caused by specific substances, are increasingly common in the United States. They can cost defendants hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars. But such risks are no …

‘Forever Chemicals’ Pose Risk Even at Very Low Levels: EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that two nonstick and stain-resistant compounds found in drinking water are more dangerous than previously thought – and pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot currently be detected. The two compounds, …

Pressure Growing to Remove PFAS from Fast Food Wrappers

Brenda Hampton first came across the toxic industrial compound PFAS after finding it was part of the cocktail of contaminants that tainted the drinking water in her North Alabama community. Hampton, who believes the contaminated water contributed to kidney problems …

Massachusetts Joins States Suing Makers, Marketers of ‘Forever Chemicals’

Massachusetts has sued more than a dozen companies involved in the manufacture or marketing of so-called forever chemicals, alleging they knowingly polluted the environment and endangered public health, state Attorney General Maura Healey said Wednesday. The companies have known about …

Maine Farmers Want Ban on ‘Forever Chemical’ Sludge in Fields

Maine farmers want lawmakers to pass a bill banning fertilizer and compost containing wastewater sludge that’s been linked to toxic industrial compounds associated with serious health conditions. Sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they last so long in the environment, these …

Delaware Residents Near Guard Base Report High Levels of ‘Forever Chemicals’

Residents living near an Air National Guard base in northern Delaware have average blood levels of certain toxic manmade chemicals that are significantly higher than the national average, according to a report by federal researchers. The Agency for Toxic Substances …