{"id":64964,"date":"2023-02-08T18:17:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T23:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=64964"},"modified":"2023-02-08T18:17:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T23:17:43","slug":"58-billion-day-of-reckoning-looms-for-3m-over-toxic-forever-chemicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=64964","title":{"rendered":"$58 billion day of reckoning looms for 3M over toxic \u2018forever chemicals\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"_16lwx _2-5AL\">\n<div class=\"_2JwnJ\">\n<div class=\"JwYux\">\n<h3 data-testid=\"headline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/58-billion-day-of-reckoning-looms-for-3m-over-toxic-forever-chemicals-20230203-p5chri.html\">$58 billion day of reckoning looms for 3M over toxic \u2018forever chemicals\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"_1Rw6X\" data-testid=\"article-body-top\">\n<aside class=\"_2GZaf\">\n<section class=\"RbDEG _2iOEC\">\n<div class=\"wekf7\">\n<h3>SNAPSHOT<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>PFAS or \u201cforever chemicals\u201d are contained in everyday items such as non-stick cookware, school uniforms and firefighting foam as they repel grease, oil and water.<\/li>\n<li>Their use has been linked to a range of illnesses but the potential health effects remain hotly disputed.<\/li>\n<li>In 2020, the Australian government paid $212 million to three communities polluted by foam used on military bases.<\/li>\n<li>3M, one of the main American manufacturers of PFAS, is facing up to $US40 billion in legal liabilities after being hit with thousands of lawsuits over the chemicals. It will fight the allegations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"_3sCHz\">Global chemicals maker 3M will be accused of a decades-long campaign to deceive the public about the risks of its controversial \u201cforever chemicals\u201d as it faces a series of bombshell legal claims worth up to $US40 billion ($58 billion) that a judge described as an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to multiple defendants\u2019 survival.<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"_1ysFk\" data-testid=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"_1665V _2q-Vk\" data-testid=\"body-content\">\n<p>The Wall Street giant is bracing for a landmark legal trial in the United States beginning in June over its use of the family of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals, known as PFAS. In Australia, the chemicals have contaminated\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/nsw\/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html\">at least 90 sites<\/a>\u00a0and officials have acknowledged PFAS has contaminated the blood of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.sa.gov.au\/files\/15095_pfas_le_fevre_fact_sheet.pdf\">up to 98 per cent of the world\u2019s population<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_3ujPS _3x3-4 RMwbY _2XZQH\" data-testid=\"image\">\n<div class=\"_1lwW_\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"enlarge image\"><picture class=\"\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_0.9788%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b, https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_1.9577%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_62%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_1.0159%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b, https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_2.0317%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_62%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b, https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.504%2C$multiply_1.545%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_62%2Cf_auto\/c07b210a0adac8ec8cb80d7b2a4df649c4fa393b 2x\" alt=\"3M is facing an unprecedented lawsuit over toxic \u2018forever chemicals\u2019.\" width=\"584\" height=\"390\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"_3CZmy\"><span class=\"_2Li3P\">3M is facing an unprecedented lawsuit over toxic \u2018forever chemicals\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dubbed \u201cforever chemicals\u201d 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\u2019s popular fabric protector Scotchgard because of its unique ability to repel grease, oil and water.<\/p>\n<p>Scientific studies linking the chemicals to cancer and a slew of other health effects have given rise to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/shorturl.at\/wTY36\">mounting public health concerns for governments internationally<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"vPaWe\" data-testid=\"article-body-bottom\">\n<div class=\"_1ysFk\">\n<div class=\"_1665V _2q-Vk\" data-testid=\"body-content\">\n<p>\u2026click on the above link to read the rest\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>$58 billion day of reckoning looms for 3M over toxic \u2018forever chemicals\u2019 SNAPSHOT PFAS or \u201cforever chemicals\u201d are contained in everyday items such as non-stick cookware, school uniforms and firefighting foam as they repel grease, oil and water. Their use has been linked to a range of illnesses but the potential health effects remain hotly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22141,33671,33672,33112,20263,20264,8557],"class_list":["post-64964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-3m","tag-carrie-fellner","tag-forever-chemicals","tag-perfluoroalkyl","tag-pfas","tag-polyfluoroalkyl","tag-sydney-morning-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64965,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64964\/revisions\/64965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}