Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against two chemical manufacturing companies, 3M and DuPont, for “misrepresentations and key omissions” over the safety of their products.
The suit targets the largest manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), which are toxic, human-made chemicals present in cleaning agents and other household items. The chemicals are designed to resist heat, stains and grease. Because of their insolubility, they never break down and are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.”
“Defendants marketed products containing harmful PFAS chemicals for over 70 years and were aware of the harmful effects of PFAS chemicals for over 50 years,” said the filing. “Despite this knowledge, Defendants continued to market PFAS products and chemicals in Texas and elsewhere as safe for consumer use, misrepresent their environmental and biological risks, and conceal risks of harm from the public.”
The forever chemicals are essential materials in the composition of Teflon, Scotchgard and Stainmaster, staples in American households. PFAS accumulate in the blood, where they can linger for decades, and have been linked to cancer in the thyroid, kidney, prostate and bladder, to name a few.
"While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship," wrote Daniel Turner, a spokesperson of DuPont, in an email to the Texas Tribune. DuPont sent the same statement regarding litigation to the Observer last fall.
In 2022, 3M announced its intention to stop manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025. The company also plans to remove the substance from its product portfolio. 3M maintains that PFAS can be safe products but is still ceasing their production in an effort “for continued sustainable growth.”
The lawsuit isn’t the first filed by Paxton that targets PFAS. He previously sued manufacturers of Aqueous Film Forming Foam, the foaming extinguisher used by firefighters to combat flammable liquid fires.
“Texas is taking action to penalize these companies and hold them accountable for deceiving Texans into buying consumer products without vital information,” said the press release from Paxton's office.
The foam isn’t the only tool for firefighters that contains the controversial chemicals. In 2023, the Observer published a cover feature about the use of the chemicals in standard firefighting gear.
The story tracks the correlation between career firefighters and their battles with cancer, as well as the litigative scandals that have hit PFAS manufacturers in the past few years. PFAS make up parts of the fire-retardant suits that first responders wear, and breathing in the chemicals is unavoidable.
“What they didn’t realize is that their protective suits may have been slowly poisoning them,” wrote Christian McPhate.
It’s recommended now that firefighters wear their full gear only when responding to emergency situations. Firefighters have one of the highest rates of occupational cancer: 66% of line-of-duty deaths of firefighters were cancer-related.
“We have to fight whenever we have an inactive person who is diagnosed with cancer,” said Dallas Fire Fighters Association’s Jim McDade. “We have to get the city to declare it as an on-duty injury, and every time we have to fight."
McPhate reported that firefighters in Dallas have only 30 days after they retire to file submit a claim for cancer as an on-duty injury, and even then, their claim may be rejected. In California, “any cancer that manifests during a period while a member is in service with a department is covered. This coverage also applies to members who leave the service and develop cancer within 10 years of their departure, depending on the length of their employment.”
In May 2022, the Florida Attorney General’s office sued DuPont and 13 other PFOA manufacturers for failing to disclose the chemicals’ toxicity. PFOA is the specific type of PFAS found in the foaming distinguisher.
"DuPont subsequently found that PFOA is 'toxic' and that 'continued exposure is not tolerable,' but did not disclose this to the public or to the United States Environmental Protection Agency," said the filing in Florida.
The PFAS Paxton is targeting are most commonly found on nonstick cookware and cleaning products, but they’re also found in water-repellent clothing, carpet and cosmetics.
“These companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals could cause serious harm to human health yet continued to advertise them as safe for household use around families and children,” said the press release from Paxton.
