Texas sues chemical giants over forever chemicals marketed as safe for families

Texas has filed a lawsuit against several large chemical companies alleging they manufacture toxic forever chemicals used in products marketed as safe for families.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued 3M Company, Corteva, Dupont De Nemours, and EIDP in the District Court of Johnson County.

The lawsuit alleges the companies “engaged in deceptive trade practices by failing to disclose health risks and environmental harms associated with their products, and representing and/or implying their products were ‘safe’ in a false, deceptive, or misleading manner, in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act.”

The products marketed as safe were made with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemical products, known as forever chemicals. They include brand names Teflon, Stainmaster and Scotchgard, according to the complaint.

PFAS chemicals are used in cookware, stain-resistant carpets, water-repellent clothes, multiple cleaning, agricultural and other products. PFAS chemicals have been linked to causing numerous health problems including decreased fertility, hormone and immune system issues, thyroid disease, kidney, prostate or testicular cancer, among others, according to Webmd.com.

Because their synthetic compounds resist disintegrating, “a characteristic born of their carbon-fluorine chemical bonds, PFAS can last thousands of years,” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health explains.

This year, the EPA issued health advisories saying forever chemicals are more hazardous to human health than was originally believed.

“Exposure in humans may be associated with diseases such as cancer and thyroid disease, and PFAS contamination accumulates in animals, plants, drinking water, and human blood over time,” Paxton argues. “For decades, 3M and Dupont knew about the dangers of these chemicals but continued to market their beneficial use in ordinary household products.”

“Defendants marketed products containing harmful PFAS chemicals for over 70 years and were aware of the harmful effects of PFAS chemicals for over 50 years,” the complaint states. “Despite this knowledge, Defendants continued to market PFAS products and chemicals in Texas and elsewhere as safe for consumer use, misrepresent their environmental and biological risks, and conceal risks of harm from the public.”

Texas previously sued the manufacturers of Aqueous Film Forming Foam, which contains PFAS, “for its harmful effect on Texas lands and waters.”

Texas’ 45-page brief cites congressional testimony of one executive claiming their products are safe and don’t cause adverse health effects, includes examples of advertisements of forever chemical products with images of smiling families and babies, and alleges one company restructured operations to protect it from billions of dollars of liabilities.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit the companies from manufacturing and selling products that contain PFAS chemicals, and to require disclosures related to health risks among other requirements. It also requests a $10,000 civil penalty be levied for each violation, at least $1 million to cover attorney fees, penalties and other costs, and demands that the companies can’t file bankruptcy to avoid paying penalties.

“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,” a DuPont de Nemours spokesperson said, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The lawsuit was filed after Chemours, DuPont and Corteva agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion in a class action PFAS water contamination lawsuit consolidated in South Carolina.

In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a multi-million-dollar verdict in a case related to a class action lawsuit and multidistrict litigation consolidated in Ohio brought by residents alleging a West Virginia DuPont plant discharged forever chemicals into their environment for decades, causing cancer and other illnesses in residents. The appellate brief summarizes a history of lawsuits filed against DuPont alleging it discharged forever chemicals “into the air, Ohio River, and landfills without limits” for 50 years, increasing discharges between 1984 and 2000.

Last year, the Sixth Circuit rejected a lower court’s ruling in another class action brought against EI du Pont de Nemours and Co, 3M and Corteva, Inc., that would have allowed 11.8 million Ohio residents to sue them as a group.

In January, the state of Connecticut sued multiple companies, including 3M, Dupont, Corteva and Chemours alleging they contaminated the state’s natural resources with PFAS chemicals.

In August, a class action was filed in Minnesota against 3M, Dupont, Corteva, Chemours and Daikin America, “intentionally manufactured, distributed, marketed, and/or sold stain- and soil repellents with PFAS to carpet manufacturers and others without disclosing the dangers of PFAS that were known to each of those entities.” It seeks to include residents from all 50 states who installed carpets unknowingly treated with PFAS chemicals from the companies.