There is a very high chance you will come into contact with PFAS today. Known as “forever chemicals,” they are almost certainly in your body already. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a group of about 14,000 chemicals used in hundreds of everyday products—from fabric protectors, electronics and non-stick pans to foams, tapes and even toilet paper. PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because the properties that make them so useful to consumers make them very persistent in the environment.
In The Poison In Us All, the premiere episode of the second season of Bloomberg Investigates, we reveal how the chemicals—linked to cancer and the subject of sweeping litigation—originated in the aftermath of the Manhattan Project, spread to myriad consumer products and ended up inside the bodies of almost everyone on the planet.
From rainwater in the Himalayas to whales off the Faroe Islands to groundwater in Minnesota, PFAS have been detected in every corner of the planet and in the blood of almost every human tested. They have been linked to an increasingly long list of health problems, including obesity, fertility issues and cancer. In the age of Covid-19, scientists have also found that they decrease the efficacy of vaccines. Litigation has revealed documents showing that its manufacturers, including industrial giant 3M, had dumped the chemicals for years and have been aware of the dangers associated with PFAS.
3M has said its products “are safe and effective for their intended uses” and assailed plaintiffs’ lawyers for selectively citing documents to portray “an incomplete and misleading story about 3M’s actions.” In The Poison In Us All, Bloomberg uncovers the history of these chemicals of convenience and the consequences of their widespread use, through the eyes of a physician in the Faroe Islands, a lawyer made famous by a Hollywood movie and a Minnesota teenager who advocated against PFAS until her death from cancer.
QuickTake: All About PFAS, the So-Called Forever Chemicals Targeted by US and EU
To see all episodes of Bloomberg Investigates, click here.
(The video has been corrected to show that Minnesota's ban on PFAS in food packaging begins in 2024.)