Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Thursday announced two lawsuits against 28 chemical manufacturers, accusing them of willfully causing widespread harm to public health.
It is now known that manufacturers of toxic PFA, known as the “forever chemical,” are present in the blood of nearly all humans. Tong's suit, filed on behalf of the state of Connecticut, addresses two sources of the chemicals. One is foam used in firefighting, called aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), and the other is consumer products such as food packaging, cookware, clothing, cosmetics, and household products.
Exposure to PFA, which is now prevalent in the state's waterways and drinking water, is known to cause an increased risk of various cancers, liver damage, birth defects, high cholesterol, infertility, and diabetes.
The state is demanding both that the state be compensated for past and future remediation and that the companies reduce the pollution. It also seeks tens of thousands of dollars in fines per day for violating state law.
“PFAS chemicals are a toxic threat to human health and the environment. These companies knew the truth decades ago, but they covered up the evidence and lied to us all. “We are dealing with widespread contamination of drinking water and natural resources across the state of Connecticut,” Tong said.
He pointed out that several companies, including DuPont, had conducted decades of research into the harms of chemicals to humans, but hid it from regulators, public authorities and federal agencies.
“We are working to hold some of the world's largest chemical manufacturers accountable for this massive public health and environmental catastrophe. “We're calling on these companies to come clean and disclose all their hidden research to ensure our state and country have what it needs to protect the United States,” he said.
PFA is a particular threat to firefighters because it is a heat-, water-, and dirt-resistant chemical that is used in firefighting equipment and foam.
“Occupational cancer is the No. 1 cause of firefighter deaths, accounting for nearly 75% of annual fatalities. Exposure to PFAS chemicals is a major contributing factor to the increased risk. We will hold these manufacturers accountable and remove these deadly carcinogens from our equipment, firefighting suits, and response gear to help the next generation of firefighters stay cancer-free. We need it,” said Peter Brown, president of the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association.
Connecticut banned the use of PFA in firefighting foam and food packaging in 2021.