How PFAS manufacturers covered up their toxic reality

Plus more health news | Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [Health Matters]( [The manufacturers of "forever chemicals" knew exactly what they were doing]( In 2023, it’s hard to get away from breaking news about PFAS, a class of more than 12,000 chemicals used in countless products from nonstick pans to cosmetics to food packaging. The chemicals have been linked to a host of physical ills, including increased risk of certain cancers, high cholesterol, hormonal disruption, immune system problems, decreased fertility, and developmental delays in children. PFAS, first developed in the 1940s, weren’t always so well known by people outside of the industries manufacturing them. But [a new study]( published in Annals of Global Health reveals just how much and how early the two biggest manufacturers of the chemicals—3M and DuPont—knew about the potential harms the products posed. The tactics the companies used to cover up this information—suppressing unfavorable research, distorting public disclosure of research that did leak out, withholding information from employees who might have been exposed to dangerous levels of PFAS—are reminiscent of those used by the [tobacco]( and [fossil fuel]( industries. Here are some of the most striking tactics the PFAS-makers used that I came across while reporting this story: - A 1961 DuPont study found that exposure to PFAS-based Teflon led to liver enlargement in rats, with the in-house scientist recommending that “contact with the skin should be strictly avoided.” No warning was issued to the public. - In 1970, researchers at a DuPont plant found that PFOA and PFOS—the two most common and notorious PFAS—could be “highly toxic when inhaled and moderately toxic when ingested.” The public was not alerted to this either. - In 2002, when the dangers of PFAS were becoming widely known, a DuPont vice president emailed an Environmental Protection Agency official, writing: “Urgent: EPA action needed. We need the EPA to quickly (like first thing tomorrow) say the following…Consumer products sold under the Teflon brand are safe [and] there are no human health effects known to be caused by PFOA.” The EPA did not accommodate the company’s request. [READ MORE]( Share This Story What Else to Read [96% of Americans Have Some COVID-19 Immunity]( By Haley Weiss CDC data show that between vaccinations and infections, antibodies in U.S. blood samples abound. [Read More »]( [U.S. Births Refuse to Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels]( By Mike Stobbe / AP A little under 3.7 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, about 3,000 fewer than the year before. [Read More »]( [7 Ways to Get Better at Small Talk—And Why You Should]( By Angela Haupt No more awkward silences. [Read More »]( [Airlines Are Weighing Passengers to See if They Have Got Heavier]( By Supriya Singh and Kate Duffy / Bloomberg A broad increase in passenger weights could affect anything from the size of seats to how far a full aircraft can fly. [Read More »]( [FDA Approves Pfizer’s New RSV Vaccine for Older Adults]( By Alice Park Pfizer's new shot for seniors becomes the second RSV vaccine in the world. [Read More »]( An Expert Voice "People blame themselves when they get distracted during different kinds of meditation—like, ‘I’m terrible at this.’ But actually, and this is counterintuitive, you need the distraction to practice the skill of shifting your mind. Shifting turns out to be just as beneficial as focusing when we think about attention." —Rachel Turow, clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty member at Seattle University --------------------------------------------------------------- If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, [click here](. Today's newsletter was written by Jeffrey Kluger and Angela Haupt, and edited by Elijah Wolfson. [Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.]( [Subscribe to TIME]( TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via [Facebook]( | [Twitter]( | [Newsletters]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS]( TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508 Questions? Contact health@time.com Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.