Companies Knew the Dangers of PFAS 'Forever Chemicals'—and Kept Them Secret

By Jeffrey Kluger | TIME | June 1, 2023

Read the full article by Jeffrey Kluger (TIME)

"The female employees at the DuPont chemical company’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, W. Va., were not given much of an explanation in 1981 when they were all abruptly moved away from any part of the factory that produced a category of chemicals then known as C8. They certainly were not told about their eight recently pregnant coworkers who had worked with C8 and given birth that year—one of them to a baby with eye defects and just a single nostril; another to a baby who had eye and tear duct defects; and a third with C8 in its cord blood.

For any employees with any doubts, the company took pains to offer reassurances that all was well. “During the period that C8 has been used at Washington Works,” a memo to the staff read, “there is no known evidence that our employees have been exposed to C8 at levels that pose adverse health effects. There is a dose level where almost every chemical, even water, becomes poisonous. [C8] has a lower toxicity, like table salt.”

C8 is today defined as two chemicals—PFOA and PFOS—that are part of a class of more than 12,000 substances known collectively as PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Also known as “forever chemicals” because that’s pretty much how long they linger in the environment, PFAS are used in thousands of products from textiles to nonstick pans to cosmetics to fire-fighting foam to food packaging, and more. The chemicals have been linked to a host of physical ills, including decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant people, increased risk of certain cancers, developmental delays and low birthweight in children, hormonal disruption, high cholesterol, and reduced effectiveness of the immune system."