Forever Chemicals – The GW Point Source

By Johanna Adashek

As early as the 1970s, the companies that manufacture and sell PFAS have known that their chemicals were apparent in human blood, at levels far higher than what was safe. Before the public was aware of the threat that PFAS posed to public health and safety, a farmer in West Virginia, Wilbur Earl Tennant, witnessed dozens of his cows die and was determined to find the cause. Tennant observed and recorded foamy discolored water spewing into his creek from a pipe connected to an industrial landfill. He also recorded self-officiated autopsies on his diseased cows that showed that the cows had been destroyed from the inside out. Tennant had attempted without success to find legal assistance in his town and from various government sources, including the state veterinarian. However, a neighbor’s friend, who had a grandson who worked as an environmental lawyer in a big firm in Ohio, led Tennant to Rob Bilott. For the next two decades, Bilott went head to head with the companies behind PFAS.

By Johanna Adashek

This blog post is the first of a two-part post on PFAS. This post defines, explains the history and usage of, and summarizes the basic science of PFAS. It also covers recent federal regulatory initiatives addressing PFAS. The next post in the series explores the history of one PFAS: PFOA, with a focus on the story of Rob Bilott’s fight against the chemical companies behind PFOA.

Sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are synthetic, or man-made, chemicals found almost ubiquitously in the air, water, and soil. They bioaccumulate and biopersist in the bloodstream and have been tied to different cancers and fertility problems. The term PFAS refers to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. There are thousands of PFAS; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updates a master list called PFASMASTER that additionally includes “partially fluorinated substances, polymers, and ill-defined reaction products.” The list grows continuously larger and, as of August 2022, includes more than 12,000 chemicals. Companies began manufacturing PFAS in the 1940s and, despite widespread evidence of their harm, these harmful chemicals are still manufactured today. PFAS can be found in nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics, shaving cream, cosmetics, firefighting foams, and even tap water.^[1]

Tag: Forever Chemicals

The Corrupt Past of PFAS and Corporate Greed [1]

What are PFAS? A Primer on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances