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#pfaspollution — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pfaspollution, aggregated by home.social.

  1. #Dupont Finally Held Accountable for #PFASPollution in Historic Settlement Valued Over $2B

    August 4, 2025

    Excerpt:
    "NJ Sierra Club Chapter Director, Anjuli Ramos-Busot, issued the following statement:

    " '#DuPont has been knowingly poisoning our lands and waters for decades. As an entity of chemical innovation, DuPont brought prosperity to New Jersey. But, like with all polluters with a ROI bottom line, the true impact brought to #NewJersey was hidden from us. However, now the contamination from DuPont is so obvious and widespread throughout the state that they can no longer hide. We are now at the point where we have entered the billion-dollar level to clean up #PFAS pollution, which goes to show the severity of contamination. DuPont has finally been held responsible for what they have done to New Jersey, to our public health, and to our environment.

    " 'Can we call this justice? Not yet. DuPont has done this across the world and in many other parts of the country. Until all of those sites are cleaned up and PFAS is no longer in our environment or in our blood, then we can call it justice.

    " 'Today’s settlement is an incredible and historical achievement for New Jersey. This is the state’s third PFAS settlement with corporate polluters to come in two years, which continues to reinforce that their negligence will no longer be tolerated.

    " 'As we face the dismantling of the EPA , rollbacks in PFAS regulations, and the cutting of environmental protections at the federal level, we must step up in New Jersey to protect ourselves and ensure clean drinking water and air for all. We thank Attorney General Platkin and NJDEP Commissioner LaTourette for doing just that, for standing up to the multi-billion dollar chemical industry in an incredible legal fight with one of the titans of the industry, and we urge them to keep the momentum going.' "

    Read more:
    sierraclub.org/new-jersey/blog

    #DuPontLied #DuPontKnew #DupontdeNemours #BigChem #PFasPollution #ForeverChemicals #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife

  2. Inside America’s carpet capital: an empire and its #toxic legacy

    Covering the world in carpet came with a cost no one wants to pay

    By Dylan Jackson, Jason Dearen and Justin Price, February 5, 2026

    "Bob Shaw glared at the executives from the chemical giant #3M across the table from him. He held up a carpet sample and pointed at the logo for Scotchgard on the back.

    " 'That’s not a logo,' fumed Shaw, CEO of the world’s largest #carpet company, one attendee later recalled. 'That’s a target.'

    "Weeks earlier, 3M Company announced it would reformulate its signature stain-resistance brand under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency because of human health and #environmental concerns.

    "Mills like Shaw’s had been using Scotchgard in carpet production, releasing its chemical ingredients into the environment for decades. And on a massive scale: The shrewd CEO built Shaw Industries from a family firm in Dalton, Georgia, into a globally dominant carpet maker worth billions.

    “I got 15 million of these out in the marketplace,” Shaw told his 3M visitors. 'What am I supposed to do about that?'

    "A 3M executive replied that he didn’t know. Shaw threw the sample at him and left the room.

    "The answer to Shaw’s Scotchgard question from that moment in 2000 would be the same as that of the broader industry. Carpet makers kept using closely related chemical alternatives for years, even after scientific studies and regulators warned of their accumulation in human blood and possible health effects. Customers expected stain resistance; nothing worked better than the family of chemicals known as PFAS.

    "A lack of state and federal regulations allowed carpet companies and their suppliers to legally switch among different versions of these stain-and-soil resistant products. Meanwhile, the local public utility in Dalton responsible for ensuring safe drinking water coordinated with carpet executives in private meetings that would effectively shield their companies from oversight.

    "Year after year, the chemicals traveled in water discarded during manufacturing from mills across northwest Georgia, eventually reaching a river system that provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people in #Georgia and eastern #Alabama.

    "The #pollution is so bad some researchers have identified the region as one of the nation’s PFAS hot spots. Today, the consequences can be found everywhere. PFAS, often called forever chemicals because they can take decades or more to break down, are in the water and the soil.

    "They’re in the dust on floors where children crawl, the local #fish and #wildlife, and as ongoing research has shown, the people.

    "Doctors have few answers for those like Dolly Baker who live downriver from Dalton’s carpet plants. She recently learned her blood has extraordinarily high PFAS levels.

    " 'I feel like, I don’t know, almost like there’s a blanket over me, smothering me that I can’t get out from under,' she said. “It’s just, you’re trapped.' "

    Read more:
    apnews.com/projects/pfas-forev

    #PFAS #Scotchguard #ThreeM #3MKnew #3MLied #BigChem #Accountability #WaterIsLife #CancerCausing #EnvironmentalPollution #ForeverChemicals #Carpeting #WoolRugs #HempRugs #DontTrustBigChem #PFASPollution

  3. "Advocates began sounding the alarm over PFAS in pesticides in 2023. The #Biden EPA attempted to discredit the author of one study that identified PFAS in pesticides, and the agency appeared to have lied about whether some of the chemicals are in pesticides. Under Donald #Trump, the EPA has increased the number of PFAS proposed for use in pesticides."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #USPol #EPAFail #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  4. "Advocates began sounding the alarm over PFAS in pesticides in 2023. The #Biden EPA attempted to discredit the author of one study that identified PFAS in pesticides, and the agency appeared to have lied about whether some of the chemicals are in pesticides. Under Donald #Trump, the EPA has increased the number of PFAS proposed for use in pesticides."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #USPol #EPAFail #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  5. "Advocates began sounding the alarm over PFAS in pesticides in 2023. The #Biden EPA attempted to discredit the author of one study that identified PFAS in pesticides, and the agency appeared to have lied about whether some of the chemicals are in pesticides. Under Donald #Trump, the EPA has increased the number of PFAS proposed for use in pesticides."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #USPol #EPAFail #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  6. "Advocates began sounding the alarm over PFAS in pesticides in 2023. The #Biden EPA attempted to discredit the author of one study that identified PFAS in pesticides, and the agency appeared to have lied about whether some of the chemicals are in pesticides. Under Donald #Trump, the EPA has increased the number of PFAS proposed for use in pesticides."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #USPol #EPAFail #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  7. "Advocates began sounding the alarm over PFAS in pesticides in 2023. The #Biden EPA attempted to discredit the author of one study that identified PFAS in pesticides, and the agency appeared to have lied about whether some of the chemicals are in pesticides. Under Donald #Trump, the EPA has increased the number of PFAS proposed for use in pesticides."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #USPol #EPAFail #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  8. HT @ai6yr

    #California farms applied millions of pounds of #PFAS to key crops, study finds

    #ForeverChemicals’ sprayed on #almonds, #grapes, #tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’

    by Tom Perkins
    Tue 18 Nov 2025 07.00 EST

    Excerpt: "California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.

    The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, #wine grapes, #alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.

    The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low income and Latino #farmworkers."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  9. HT @ai6yr

    #California farms applied millions of pounds of #PFAS to key crops, study finds

    #ForeverChemicals’ sprayed on #almonds, #grapes, #tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’

    by Tom Perkins
    Tue 18 Nov 2025 07.00 EST

    Excerpt: "California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.

    The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, #wine grapes, #alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.

    The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low income and Latino #farmworkers."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  10. HT @ai6yr

    #California farms applied millions of pounds of #PFAS to key crops, study finds

    #ForeverChemicals’ sprayed on #almonds, #grapes, #tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’

    by Tom Perkins
    Tue 18 Nov 2025 07.00 EST

    Excerpt: "California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.

    The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, #wine grapes, #alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.

    The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low income and Latino #farmworkers."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  11. HT @ai6yr

    #California farms applied millions of pounds of #PFAS to key crops, study finds

    #ForeverChemicals’ sprayed on #almonds, #grapes, #tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’

    by Tom Perkins
    Tue 18 Nov 2025 07.00 EST

    Excerpt: "California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.

    The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, #wine grapes, #alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.

    The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low income and Latino #farmworkers."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  12. HT @ai6yr

    #California farms applied millions of pounds of #PFAS to key crops, study finds

    #ForeverChemicals’ sprayed on #almonds, #grapes, #tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’

    by Tom Perkins
    Tue 18 Nov 2025 07.00 EST

    Excerpt: "California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.

    The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, #wine grapes, #alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.

    The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low income and Latino #farmworkers."

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #ForeverChemicals #DowChemicalKnew
    #3MKnew #BigAg #RoundupReady #Glyphosate #Bees #Extinction #Hubris #WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #EPACuts #Pollution #PFOS #PFASPollution #PFASContamnation #ManMadeDisasters #3M #3MLied #GenXChemicals
    #PFNA #PFHxS

  13. Notorious US #ChemicalPlant polluting water with toxic #PFAS, lawsuit claims

    Complaint says #Chemours factory dramatized in Hollywood movie #DarkWaters continues to pollute #WestVirginia river

    by Tom Perkins, January 27, 2025

    "The chemical giant Chemours’s notorious West Virginia PFAS plant is regularly polluting nearby water with high levels of toxic 'forever chemicals', a new lawsuit alleges.

    "It represents the latest salvo in a decades-old fight over pollution from the plant, called Washington Works, which continues despite public health advocates winning significant legal battles.

    The new federal complaint claims #WashingtonWorks has been spitting out levels of PFAS waste significantly higher than what a discharge permit has allowed since 2023, which is contaminating the #OhioRiver in #ParkersburgWestVirginia, a town of about 50,000 people in #Appalachia.

    "The factory was the focal point of a Hollywood movie, Dark Waters. It dramatized the story of how the pollution widely sickened Parkersburg residents, and the David v Goliath legal saga in which a group of residents and attorneys took on Chemours, then part of DuPont.
    The findings ‘highlight the importance of careful scrutiny of novel chemicals’, said Irene Jacz, a study co-author and Iowa State economist.

    "An epidemiological study stemming from the case blew the lid off of the health risks of PFAS, and ultimately cost #DuPont about $700m.

    "Though the landmark case still reverberates across the regulatory landscape, the suit started almost 25 years ago, concluded in 2016, and Chemours’s pollution continues. The new lawsuit is part of other legal actions related to the facility that have filled the gap left by weak regulatory action, local advocates say. The never-ending struggle 'wears you out', added Joe Kiger, a Parkersburg resident who was one of the original litigants in 2001.

    "'We have put up with this for 24 years, and [Chemours] is still polluting, they’re still putting this stuff in the water,' Kiger said.

    "The new lawsuit, filed by the #WestVirginiaRiversCoalition, alleges 'numerous violations' since the level of PFAS the company is permitted to discharge per a consent order was lowered in early 2023. Among the contaminants are #PFOA, a PFAS chemical to which virtually no level of exposure in drinking water is safe, the #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency (#EPA) has found. It also includes #GenX, a compound for which the EPA has similarly found very low exposure levels can cause health problems.

    "The EPA ordered Chemours to take corrective action, but the company has done nothing in response, and the agency has not taken further action, the suit states. The complaint does not mention drinking water, which is largely filtered. But the suit alleges the ongoing pollution prevents residents from using the river for recreation.

    "In a statement, Chemours said the 'concerns are being addressed' through the consent order. It also noted it was renewing discharge permits with the state, and was working with regulators 'to navigate both the consent order and the permit renewal process'.

    "'Chemours recognizes the Coalition as a community stakeholder and invites the Coalition to engage directly with the Washington Works team,' a spokesperson wrote.

    "The EPA and West Virginia Rivers Coalition declined to comment because litigation is ongoing.

    "Kiger and others who have taken on Chemours and DuPont railed against the company, accusing it of 'greed' and putting profits above residents’ health. Some in Parkersburg refer to the waste as the 'Devil's Piss'.

    "'They do what they can to make money,' said Harry Deitzler, a West Virginia attorney who helped lead past lawsuits.

    "'The officers in the corporation sometimes don’t care about what’s right and wrong – they need to make money for shareholders and the lawsuits make everyone play by the same rules.'

    "Still, most residents are not aware of the ongoing pollution, those who spoke with the Guardian say. Chemours is a large employer that still wields power locally, and spends heavily on charitable giving. Many remain supportive of the company, regardless of the pollution, Kiger said.

    "'That’s the kind of stuff you’re up against,' he added. 'People put a blind trust in them. It could be snowing out and Chemours would tell everyone it’s 80F [27C] and sunny, and everyone will grab their tan lotion.'

    "The saga began in the late 1990s when the plant’s pollution was suspected of sickening nearby livestock, and an investigation by attorneys revealed the alarming levels at which PFAS was being discharged into the water and environment.

    "A class action lawsuit yielded about $70m in damages for area residents in 2004, but the litigation did not prove DuPont’s PFAS pollution was behind a rash of #cancer, #KidneyDisease, stubbornly high cholesterol and other widespread health problems in the region.

    "Instead of dividing the settlement up among tens of thousands of residents, which would have only provided each with several hundred dollars, the money went toward developing an epidemiological study with independent scientists to verify that widespread local health issues were caused by DuPont’s pollution.

    "The move was a gamble that ultimately paid off – the study of about 70,000 people showed by 2012 that PFOA probably caused some forms of cancer, #ThyroidDisease, persistently #HighCholesterol, pregnancy-induced #hypertension and #autoimmune problems.

    "Subsequent studies have shown links between the chemical and a host of other serious health problems – #BirthDefects, #neurotoxicity, kidney disease and #LiverDisease – that residents in the area suffered.

    "DuPont and Chemours in 2017 settled for $671m in costs for about 3,500 injury suits, and have paid more to install water-filtration systems throughout the region. Separately, Chemours in 2023 settled with the state of #Ohio for $110m for pollution largely from Washington Works.

    "The EPA and state regulatory agencies have at times been staffed with former DuPont managers or industry allies, and litigation has been the only way to get any meaningful movement, said Rob Bilott, the attorney who led the original class-action suit.

    '"It’s infuriating,' Bilott said. 'It took decades of making DuPont documents and internal data public, and getting the story out through movies, news articles, books and public engagement, and that’s what finally pushed the needle here. This is the impact of citizens forcing it through decades of litigation.'

    "The latest lawsuit is a citizen’s suit under the #CleanWaterAct. Such suits give citizens the power to ask a judge to enforce federal law when a polluter is violating it and regulators fail to act.

    "The lawsuit asks a judge to order the company to pay $66,000 for each day it has been in violation, which is stipulated in the permit. That would total around $50m, but the main goal is to stop the pollution.

    "The EPA has acknowledged Chemours is violating the law, but has 'taken no further enforcement action regarding Chemours’s violations as of the date of this complaint', the suit reads."

    Source:
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    Archived:
    archive.ph/p3wA6
    #Environment #PFASPollution #PollutionRunoff #WaterIsLife #DevilsPiss

  14. #ForeverChemicals’ – the part of cleaning you don’t want to last

    "Notable categories of cleaners that either may contain, or have historically contained, PFAS are:

    - glass and hard surface cleaners
    - fabric, upholstery, and #CarpetCleaners and treatments
    - #waxes and polishes for #floors, #furniture, #cars and #boat vessels
    - dishwashing rinse aids
    - #AerosolPropellant-based #cleaners and #AirFresheners
    - #paints and #coatings.

    "Floor sealers and finishes – products that cure into a film once applied – often contain PFAS. During floor stripping and waxing, PFAS concentrations in dust and air particulate matter were one order of magnitude greater than typical residential indoor air and two orders of magnitude greater than outdoor air, according to a 2022 study.

    "But now the cleaning products #Industry wants to keep consumers in the dark about the use of these chemicals in their brands. Earlier this month, a bill was introduced in Congress on behalf of leading household cleaning product makers that would deny Americans the right to know about #ToxicChemicals in cleaning products.

    "The manufacturer #Reckitt applauded Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) for introducing the bill, which would rob consumers of crucial information about the ingredients in their products. Reckitt makes popular household brands like #Lysol, #Woolite, #AirWick, #Vanish, #Calgon, among many others.

    And industry giant #SCJohnson
    called for a 'clear federal standard' on disclosing ingredients, knowing any such standard could take a decade or longer. The company manufactures #Glade, #Drano, #Pledge, #ScrubbingBubbles, #Shout and #Windex, along with many other products, including #Ziploc."

    Read more:
    ewg.org/news-insights/news/202

    #PFAS #PFOS #WaterIsLife #WaterPollution #PFASPollution #PFOA #PTFE #Wildlife #Cancer #Contamination #Chemicals #Environment #FoodPackaging #Plastics #FireFightingFoam #Firefighters #Health #Mining #Lubricants #Electronics #Cosmetics #PFNA #PFHxS #PFB #GenXChemicals
    #Toxic #DowChemical #DuPont #3M #BASF #Teflon #RainWater #DrinkingWater