Toxic Timeline: A Brief History of PFAS
Research in the 1940s and ’50s led to the commercialization and widespread use of PFAS, substances that are now found in the bloodstream of almost all Americans.
February 19, 2019 | Source: Searchlight New Mexico | by Amy Linn
More than 1,000 studies over the past 40 years – some by the U.S. military – show that PFOA and PFOS endanger the planet and public health. They persist in the environment forever and bioaccumulate in animals. In humans, they’re linked to cancer, thyroid disease, reduced immunity, high cholesterol, birth defects and other threats. And manufacturers, the Environmental Protection Agency and the military have looked the other way.
1947: 3M starts mass-manufacturing PFOA, one of the best-known members in a family of thousands of fluorochemicals called PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
1951: DuPont starts using PFOA to make Teflon.
1953: A close relative of PFOA – a chemical called PFOS – is accidentally spilled on a 3M chemist’s tennis shoe. It leaves a coating that repels oil and water. Scotchgard is born.
1960s: 3M and the U.S. Navy develop “aqueous film-forming foam” (AFFF), a firefighting foam containing PFOS and PFOA. Animal and human studies link the chemicals to liver damage.