3M's 2001 Study on PFAS Flagged to FDA by Lawyer Suing Company
3M's 2001 Study on PFAS Flagged to FDA by Lawyer Suing Company
(Bloomberg) -- A class of chemicals that some scientists call the next DDT is just beginning to face scrutiny for its appearance in human food, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now developing ways to measure its presence in everything from milk to produce.
The question, though, is whether the controversial chemicals should have been on everyone’s radars decades ago.
A lawyer representing people who say they have the industrial chemicals in their bloodstream is pressing U.S. regulators for information about food contamination detected in a study by 3M Co. -- back in 2001. Rob Bilott of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP sent a letter dated June 11 to the FDA, along with a copy of the 3M-commissioned report, asking the agency to address if and when it became aware of the almost two-decade-old study “that confirmed elevated levels of PFAS in the U.S. food supply.”
The FDA told Bloomberg it was reviewing Bilott’s letter. “We’ve been working to measure PFAS concentrations in food, estimating dietary exposure and determining the associated health effects,” the agency said. It added that it’s also working closely with federal and state partners and consulting peer-reviewed reports “to advance the science of PFAS detection and better understand the potential health risks associated with PFAS exposures.”
The FDA said earlier this week it hasn’t yet seen “any indication that these substances are a human health concern.” Still, it maintains that its understanding of PFAS is still an “emerging science” and that work to understand it is “ongoing.”
3M confirmed the 2001 report and said it was shared with the Environmental Protection Agency “within seven days.”
“This report is one of thousands of documents we have placed in the public domain related to the study of PFAS chemistries,” the company said in an email. “We will continue to engage with members of our communities, elected officials and regulators to share information about these chemistries.”
The issue of who knew what -- and when -- comes amid growing litigation and regulation over PFAS, a class of thousands of chemicals also sometimes called “forever” chemicals. PFAS chemicals, many made by 3M, are in products like Scotchgard sprays and coated paper for food packaging. Some types that have been phased out are still in the environment and have been linked to serious health problems.
Bilott’s firm has brought suits against 3M, DowDupont’s spinoff Chemours Co. and other companies over some PFAS in a type of firefighting foam. Over the past few years, high levels have been found in drinking water around airports and air force bases, where the foams were used. Bilott spoke about the 3M study at a PFAS conference in Boston earlier this week where community activists, government representatives and academics discussed the latest discoveries about how the chemicals get into human blood and their potential impact on health.
The FDA, which has more recently done its own studies examining foods for the chemicals, said it didn’t detect PFAS in the “vast majority of the foods tested.”
--With assistance from Deena Shanker.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tiffany Kary in New York at tkary@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Lisa Wolfson, Jonathan Roeder
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