‘A worldwide public health threat’: Rob Bilott on his 20-year fight against forever chemicals

By Carey Gillam | The Guardian | May 2, 2022

Read the full article by Carey Gillam (The Guardian)

“Last month, an Ohio court certified a class action lawsuit brought by lawyer Rob Bilott that would cover 7 million people – and at some point possibly everyone living in the United States – who have been exposed to certain hazardous ‘forever chemicals’ known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.

The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other human health problems. They are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not naturally break down, persisting indefinitely in the environment.

Two types of PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – have been found to be so harmful that they are being phased out of use. In addition to US multi-national company 3M, the class action lawsuit names 10 other companies that produce PFAS, which are used to make cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and other products. The Biden administration last year pledged to undertake a massive PFAS mitigation strategy at a cost of more than $10bn."

 

This content provided by the PFAS Project.

Topics:

• ChemicalsPFAS
• ChemicalsPFOA
• ChemicalsPFOS
• SourcesManufacturing facilities
• Sources3M
• SourcesDuPont/Chemours
• Affected community
• Health
• Regulations
• RegulationsStandards
• Litigation
• Measurement Techniques
• Monitoring Data
• PFAS Uses