The Wall Street giant is bracing for a landmark legal trial in the United States beginning in June over its use of the family of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals, known as PFAS. In Australia, the chemicals have contaminated at least 90 sites and officials have acknowledged PFAS has contaminated the blood of up to 98 per cent of the world’s population.
3M is facing an unprecedented lawsuit over toxic ‘forever chemicals’.
Dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment and stay for years in the human bloodstream, PFAS was formerly the key ingredient in 3M’s popular fabric protector Scotchgard because of its unique ability to repel grease, oil and water.
