How the Disaster of "Forever Chemicals" Was Kept Secret

croes

So like with climate change the ones responsible knew for decades but preferred the profit.

chaz6

Crimes on this scale warrant capital punishment.

darth_avocado

And yet, here we are just pouring glyphosate on public lands by the tons… Nothing changes even if we know about these chemicals

aftbit

https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas...

billfor

The "interview" format is a bit difficult to read. Assuming they did keep it a secret, we had so many other hazards that were (and still are) in common use: lead, mercury, tobacco, chlordane, asbestos, etc... So even if true; even if you accept this as some conspiracy, it would seem to pale in comparison to the list I just gave. We seemingly survived and thrived with with substances far worse than a little plastic running around in our bloodstream, yet this remains the topic of the day and it makes me wonder how real the outrage is (proportionate to other hazards) or if this is just liberal minded "see the big companies are out to get us and this is just the current example". It would be far more persuasive imho to just argue the later point independently, because the plastic (using the term loosely) topic comes up so frequently that to some of us it is just repetitive and not really constructive.

jdw64

It seems you and I now have something in common inside our bodies: PFOS. I've finally found a point of connection between us. Out of curiosity as to why 3M would insert this commonality into me to help us share a sense of solidarity, I looked up some safety-related research papers. I came across a 3M technical paper by Seacat et al. (2002)[1], which claims that under their experimental conditions, no harmful effects were observed up to a certain dose. Seeing this perfectly illustrates just how much science and technology are dictated by the institutions they are affiliated with. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12075127/

clumsysmurf

Buckle up, the second Trump administration / Lee Zeldin's EPA approved 5 new PFAS / "forever chemicals" for use as pesticides to be sprayed on crops https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/health/pfas-pesticides-indust...

adjejmxbdjdn

> They have developmental effects, immune effects. Thyroid, liver, hormonal systems. Some cause cancer, kidney cancer, obesity. They bind to proteins in your blood, and they change how systems in your bodies work. Is there any evidence that the amounts found in humans using non stick pans, for example, and not those drinking water downstream from an industrial source of “forever chemicals”, have any of these effects?

mentalgear

There's an excellent film with, and produced by, Mark Ruffalo ("Avengers"). "Dark Waters" about the environmental lawyer who exposed the whole fowl conspiracy by DuPont Chemicals, 3M, and other industrial chemical companies and the knowingly poisoning of the (American) people for decades (and still continuing). Most recommended !

alt227

The Veritasium documentary on this is very informative: https://youtu.be/SC2eSujzrUY

bilsbie

This is a MAHA scam. These chemicals are fine.

rkagerer

A team of New York University researchers estimated in 2018 that the costs of just two forever chemicals, PFOA and PFOS — in terms of disease burden, disability and health-care expenses — amounted to as much as $62 billion in a single year. This exceeds the current market value of 3M.

Melatonic

Want to know the real way to reduce forever chemicals? Donate blood !

ChiMan

And so, you run up against a phenomenon every bit as natural as the forever durability as PFAS: Markets can respond to uncomfortable truths. Organizations of real humans? Not so much.

hefner1456

Just look up "firefighting foam military base". I know someone that had major thyroid issues due to this.