![]() ![]() ![]() He said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should deem the chemicals hazardous substances and set a drinking water standard for them within two years.ĭuPont both used PFOA in its Teflon products and then manufactured the chemical before spinning off that part of the business into a new company, Chemours.Ĭhemours is now challenging DuPont in court as the company denies liability over the chemicals. The company’s records – made public in lawsuits in West Virginia and Minnesota – underscore decades-long knowledge of the risk associated with the chemicals and an effort to avoid disclosing those dangers to the public.ĭuPont’s chief operating and engineering officer, Daryl Roberts, however, said his company endorses regulation of two specific types of the chemicals – PFOA and PFOS. Republicans on the subcommittee largely defended the companies.ĭenise Rutherford, senior vice-president of corporate affairs for 3M, argued the chemicals pose no human health threats at current levels and have no victims, conflicting with a large body of research and 3M’s own internal documents. ![]() The chemicals have been found in high levels in groundwater near industrial facilities and near military installations and airports that have used PFAS-based firefighting foam.Ĭongress is seeking to address the chemicals as part of negotiations on a 2020 defense bill, and the chemical industry broadly has opposed stringent regulation. Numerous studies link PFAS exposure with cancer, thyroid problems and developmental issues in children. Nicknamed “forever chemicals”, they do not break down in the environment and accumulate in the human body. The class of chemicals, called PFAS, are in non-stick pans, water-resistant clothes, food packaging and firefighting foam. The California representative Harley Rouda, who chairs the subcommittee, accused the companies of obscuring and suppressing evidence in what he called a “seismic event” that “shakes the foundation of democratic capitalism” by “violating the trust of the American people”. Democrat lawmakers on a subcommittee of the House oversight panel questioned who would pay for medical bills and massive clean-up programs, if not the corporations. ![]()
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