For about half a century, a chemical giant lied that one of its products was biodegradable, causing untold human health risks and damage to the environment.
What's happening?
"The multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as 'forever chemicals,'" The Guardian reported.
An analysis by the outlet and Watershed Investigations uncovered documents that showed it used PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, that were known to be non-biodegradable as early as 1949.
"Until the 1990s, 3M continued to produce information and brochures for customers stating that natural processes would break down the foams," the newspaper stated.
This led, in part, to the recommendation that the foam be discharged into sewers for cleanup. A PFAS expert, Ian Cousins of Stockholm University, called the practice "disastrous," as the toxins remained in effluent and sludge from wastewater treatment plants that made their way to waterways and farmland.
The Australian government, for example, used agricultural fields to dispose of firefighting foams, issuing a recommendation to do so in 1987. This supposedly "effective and inexpensive method" cost it hundreds of millions of dollars down the line.
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Why is this important?
The paper said PFAS pollution was "one of the greatest threats" to humankind.
"As a result of 3M providing misleading information to customers," it stated, "untold volumes of the foams may have been misused across the world, contaminating soils, water, and people's blood with PFAS."
Blood tests of residents of Jersey, a Channel Island, showed elevated levels of PFAS. They were exposed to the chemical compounds over decades via firefighting foam used at the airport, and 3M was the source. The foam contaminated drinking water and local produce as well, The Guardian reported.
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What's being done about 3M's disinformation campaign?
The Guardian detailed evidence from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that proved 3M was aware its firefighting foams were not biodegradable and could cause significant dangers because of their toxicity.
In 1988, a fire equipment company told 3M in a fax: "In all literature and documentation that is published by the major manufacturers of AFFFs [and verbal presentations made by manufacturer's reps] it is claimed that these products are biodegradable. … Imagine the surprise and total shock … embarrassment and credibility loss … [at being told by others that the foams were not after all biodegradable]."
3M began phasing out aqueous film-forming foams with certain PFAS in 2000, and then it stopped making AFFF altogether, according to The Guardian. The company said it was treating water and remediating sites where it manufactured PFAS products, and it announced in 2022 that it would stop using PFAS in its products by the end of 2025.
"3M in 2023 agreed to pay settlements amounting to more than $10bn over contamination of various public drinking water systems, though it did not admit liability in these cases," The Guardian reported.
In 2018, the company settled a lawsuit for $850 million with the state of Minnesota.
PFAS have been banned and pulled from use in places all over the world but not until recently.
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