Texas sues DuPont, 3M over 'forever chemicals'

CLEBURNE, Texas (CN) — Major chemical companies misled consumers about the safety of their products for decades, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

In a complaint filed in Johnson County District Court, Paxton says chemical manufacturers have engaged in false advertising regarding the safety of products containing PFAS. The lawsuit lists 3M Company and DuPont as defendants, as well as Corteva, a company related to DuPont, and EIDP, Inc., a subsidiary of Corteva.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of manmade chemicals that are resistant to heat, water and grease. Since the 1950s, PFAS have been used in many consumer and industrial products, though there are currently efforts to phase out their use. PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their extreme persistence in the environment and resistance to breaking down over time. PFAS can accumulate in the human body and have been linked to health problems like cancer, low birth weight, increased cholesterol levels and reduced immune response to vaccines.

“Defendants knew of these risks, knew they could not contain PFAS in their consumer products, and — as early as the 1970s — knew that their PFAS chemistry was already building up in the blood of most Americans,” Paxton writes in the complaint. “Nonetheless, defendants concealed these substantial risks from consumers and the state, and for decades, they even affirmatively claimed their products were ‘safe.’”

3M and Corteva did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said in a statement that the company, which was created in 2019 following corporate restructuring, has never manufactured PFOA and PFOS, two types of PFAS chemicals.

“While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship,” Turner said.

Paxton claims DuPont engaged in a complex corporate restructuring to shield its valuable assets from significant PFAS-related liabilities. Paxton is seeking to have this restructuring declared a fraudulent transfer in a separate lawsuit.

Despite internal research showing the potential harm from PFAS, Paxton says in the complaint, 3M and DuPont marketed products containing these chemicals as family-friendly, promoting them as useful for families with children and pets.

“These companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals could cause serious harm to human health yet continued to advertise them as safe for household use around families and children,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas is taking action to penalize these companies and hold them accountable for deceiving Texans into buying consumer products without vital information.”

Paxton wants the companies barred from selling products with PFAS known to cause health risks and from mispresenting the health and safety risks of the chemicals they sell, as well as at least $1 million in civil penalties, attorney fees and court costs.