DuPont and 3M, which was making PFAS and used one at Scotchgard, began studying the potential health effects of their formulations in part as an occupational safety measure. At first, scientists assumed that because the first compounds were so stable and resistant to change—”inert” in chemistry parlance—it would be impossible for them to interact with biological systems. The companies’ internal experiments, along with other studies, quickly overturned this notion. By 1965, DuPont had an indication that PFAS increased the weight of the liver and kidneys of mice.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, companies were seeing troubling signs in their animal studies—in one study, monkeys exposed to extreme levels of PFAS died—and among their employees. In 1979, DuPont noticed that workers who were in contact with chemicals appeared to have higher rates of abnormal liver function. In 1981, 3M researchers alerted colleagues at DuPont that pregnant rats exposed to PFAS had pups with eye problems. That year, an employee of a Teflon factory gave birth to a baby with one nostril, a punctured pupil and a jagged eyelid. In 1984, DuPont discovered PFAS in the tap water of three communities near its West Virginia plant.
In 1998, 3M reported to the Environmental Protection Agency that it had tried and failed to identify members of the public without PFOS – a type of PFOS they were producing – in their blood. Two years later, the company, the only US manufacturer of PFOS, announced that it planned to phase out its manufacture of the chemical. (3M sometimes shared data with the EPA in the 1980s; DuPont’s human and animal research wouldn’t become known until 2001, after a lawsuit forced the company to turn over PFOA-related documents to opposing counsel, alerting the EPA and others. In 1999, The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an ongoing project run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track the health of the US population, has begun testing for PFAS in participants and will confirm 3M’s notes: It is present in almost everyone.
This revelation was met with a collective shrug by federal health officials and policymakers. More than two decades later, in fact, PFAS production remains largely unregulated. There are over 12,000 different chemicals, very few of which have been investigated for their potential effects on health. Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, has mapped more than 41,000 places in the United States and its territories. Where PFAS is likely to be manufactured, used, or releasedMilitary sites, airports, landfills, sewage treatment plants, oil refineries. This year, the group announced that more than Contamination of 2,800 local sites has been confirmed with chemicals.
PFAS can be removed from tap water, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency, tap water typically only accounts for about 20 percent of a person’s total exposure to the chemicals; We also eat it, inhale it, and rub it on our skin. Testing by government agencies and monitoring groups has found PFAS in carpeting, furniture, nail polish, shampoo, mascara, nonstick cookware, dental floss, raincoats, fast food wrappers, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, yoga pants, athletic shoes, sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual cups, bedding, Upholstery, children’s pajamas, paint, vinyl flooring and artificial turf. They are in protective equipment used by firefighters and medical personnel. It is in a foam that is particularly effective for extinguishing fuel-based flames. It’s in the dust and household cleaning products you might use to get rid of it. They are in flamingos in the Caribbean and plovers in South Korea. They are in crocodile. They are in the snows of Antarctica. In Europe, they have been detected in organic eggs. In the United States, some states have found it in produce and meat. Last year, a study of PFAS in freshwater fish in the United States revealed that average levels are so high that eating one meal can be equivalent to drinking water contaminated with PFAS for a month. In June, the USGS reported that it had tested private wells and public water supplies and found at least one PFAS is in 45 percent of the nation’s tap water.