, examines documents from DuPont and 3M, the largest manufacturers of PFAS. The paper analyzes the tactics the industry used to delay public awareness of PFAS toxicity, and in turn, delay regulations governing their use. PFAS are widely used chemicals in clothing, household goods, and, and are highly resistant to breaking down, giving them the name"forever chemicals." They are now ubiquitous in people and the environment.
"Having access to these documents allows us to see what the manufacturers knew and when, but also how polluting industries keep critical public health information private," said first author Nadia Gaber, MD, Ph.D., who led the research as a PRHE fellow and is now an emergency medicine resident."This research is important to inform policy and move us towards a precautionary rather than reactionary principle of chemical regulation.
In 1980, DuPont and 3M learned that two of eight pregnant employees who had worked in C8 manufacturing gave birth to children with birth defects. The company did not publish the discovery or tell employees about it, and the following year an internal memo stated,"We know of no evidence of birth defects caused by C-8 at DuPont."