California AG Filed Lawsuit against PFAS Manufacturers, Including 3M and DuPont

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against nineteen manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including 3M and DuPont. The lawsuit alleged that the companies should have known that the PFAS—a toxic class of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” for their resistance to breaking down in the human body and the environment—were harmful to human health and the environment. The lawsuit pointed out that 3M and DuPont began studying the toxological properties beginning in the 1950s, but have continued to manufacture the harmful chemicals, even stating in 2003: “[w]e are confident that there are no health effects associated with [PFOA] exposure,” and that “[PFOA] is not a human health issue.” PFAS has been found in the bloodstream of 98% of people in California. The lawsuit sought treatment and destruction of PFAS across the state, as well as payment to mitigate PFAS impacts through “environmental testing, medical monitoring, public noticing, replacement water (for period between testing and installation of treatment), and safe disposal and destruction.”