How One Company Secretly Poisoned The Planet

In 1929 in Chicago, people were mysteriously dying inside their homes from toxic gases leaking from their refrigerators, which used methyl chloride as a refrigerant.

• Methyl chloride was toxic and virtually odorless, causing deaths without warning if it leaked • Other fridges used flammable gases that could explode if combined with sparks from stoves

One company set out to solve this problem by finding a safer alternative that was neither toxic nor flammable.

In the process of solving the refrigerant problem, they accidentally created a seemingly magical substance that would become ubiquitous in consumer products.

In 1936, DuPont chemist Roy J. Plunkett was experimenting with tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) gas when his assistant discovered the cylinder was full of a white, slippery powder instead of gas.

• The TFE gas had polymerized into polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) under high pressure • The powder was extremely inert, resisting water, acid, bases, and all solvents tested

The carbon-fluorine bond is the strongest single bond carbon can form, making fluorine atoms grip electrons so tightly that other molecules are essentially ignored.

Despite Plunkett's initial desire to discard it, DuPont realized its incredible inertness made it perfect for protecting uranium hexafluoride processing equipment during the Manhattan Project.

DuPont struggled to produce and process Teflon because it couldn't be easily molted, dissolved, or sprayed onto surfaces as a coating.

In 1951, DuPont purchased PFOA (C8) from 3M, an acid that acted as a surfactant to disperse TFE throughout water, enabling safe polymerization and spray application.

C8 molecules arranged in water with hydrophobic tails creating bubbles that trapped TFE gas, allowing the polymerization reaction to occur safely and evenly throughout the mixture.

• After World War II, DuPont trademarked the material as Teflon in 1944 • Non-stick pans revolutionized cooking when Marc Gregoire introduced them in 1954 after his wife's suggestion • Teflon was used in everything from stain-resistant carpets to Gore-Tex jackets to medical implants

Farmer Earl Tennant noticed his cows were mysteriously dying with tumors and black teeth, with white foam coming from a discharge pipe marked with DuPont's company name.

• Lawyer Rob Bilott obtained 60,000 DuPont operational documents revealing the chemical C8 • Internal 1961 studies showed C8 caused abnormal liver growth in rats at just 1.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight • Further studies confirmed C8 caused toxic effects in dogs, monkeys, and multiple organ systems across multiple species

• C8 is extremely persistent in the environment due to carbon-fluorine bonds, persisting for decades without breaking down • C8 resembles fatty acids, allowing it to enter the bloodstream and accumulate in body tissues • Humans and animals cannot break down C8, so it slowly bioaccumulates and disrupts biological systems

DuPont conducted all these studies but did not share the results with the scientific community or regulators.

In 1975, researchers found organic fluorine (carbon-fluorine bonds) in Americans' blood from across the country, which did not follow the pattern of inorganic fluorides added to water.

• When researchers asked 3M if their chemicals were the source, 3M initially claimed ignorance • Within three months, 3M confirmed their PFOA chemicals matched the organic fluorine in people's blood but did not tell the researchers • Internal tests showed DuPont workers had C8 levels 1,000 times higher than the general population, with many showing liver disease

DuPont was dumping almost 10 tons of C8 into the Ohio River annually and accumulating thousands of tons as C8 sludge in landfills that leached into Earl Tennant's creek.

By 2000, 100% of blood samples from thousands of Americans tested positive for C8 at an average of five parts per billion.

By the early 1980s, rat studies confirmed that PFOA (C8) causes testicular tumors, sending alarm bells through DuPont.

• In 1984, DuPont meetings concluded no safer alternative was economically attractive • DuPont scientists invented their own safe dose of 0.6 parts per billion (later rounded to 1 ppb), essentially saying if you can detect it, it's too high • Water leaching from the landfill near Earl's farm tested at 1,600 parts per billion, but DuPont did not inform the public

Rob Bilott's 900-page letter to the EPA and Department of Justice led to DuPont settling with Earl Tennant for an undisclosed sum without admitting wrongdoing.

The settlement only covered Earl's farm, but tens of thousands of people in Parkersburg had been drinking contaminated water from public wells for decades without knowing.

In 2005, Rob Bilott spearheaded a medical study analyzing blood samples and medical records from the Parkersburg community exposed to C8.

• In 2013, an independent science panel confirmed probable links between C8 and six human diseases • Linked diseases include thyroid disease, testicular cancer, and kidney cancer • A person with more than 30 ppb of C8 in blood serum has roughly double the odds of kidney cancer compared to the general population

By 2017, DuPont paid over $600 million to C8 exposure victims, though this was small compared to their $80 billion annual sales that year.

• DuPont spun off its Teflon business into Chemours company, which replaced C8 with GenX (C6) • GenX was expected to be more degradable but caused the same three tumors in rats that PFOA did • Companies simply tweak the chemical structure and restart the process, avoiding having to collect evidence about dangers

• PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is a family of over 14,000 different manmade chemicals covered in carbon-fluorine bonds • These chemicals repel liquids and are grease-resistant, making them useful for waterproof clothing, fast food wrappers, and microwave popcorn bags

The same carbon-fluorine bonds that make PFAS useful in consumer products also make them incredibly persistent in the environment, earning them the name 'forever chemicals'.

• PFAS has been found on every continent, including Antarctica • Almost every living creature from polar bears to birds to fish contains PFAS • The contamination is fingerprinted back to just a few companies despite companies knowing about dangers 50 years ago

Companies knew how dangerous these chemicals were but decided not to inform the public and regulators, so global contamination is only being discovered now.

Derek from Veritasium tested his own blood and found a combined PFAS level of 17.92 parts per billion, more than double the US median.

• PFOA at 1.46 ppb (average for US residents) • PFOS at 8.93 ppb (US average is 4.3 ppb) • PFHxS at 6.84 ppb (US average is 1 ppb, higher than 95% of Americans)

A researcher who has been testing PFAS since 2007 has never seen a non-detect, and 98% of the population has PFAS in their blood.

Derek's combined total was just below the National Academies' recommendation for additional screenings for PFAS-related diseases, which begins at 20 ppb.

• Non-stick pans are Teflon coating with long, inert polymer chains that pass through the body without absorption • Waterproof clothing, stain-resistant furniture, and treated carpets may release PFAS but pose low direct skin exposure risk • The bigger problem is how easily PFAS from these products reach the environment when factories do not keep chemicals contained

• Food packaged in PFAS-treated materials like takeout boxes, microwave popcorn bags, and burger wrappers can leach chemicals into food • Microwave popcorn bags stored for months or years before use allow PFAS to leach into oils, spreading throughout the popcorn • A 2019 study found eating fast food and microwave popcorn increases PFAS load while homecooked meals do not

• Water is the biggest source of exposure, especially near PFAS factories, military bases, and airports • PFAS are added to firefighting foams to lower surface tension and create better foam, which seeps into soil and groundwater during fire drills

• The entire water cycle is contaminated with PFAS at planetary saturation levels • Rain on remote areas like the Tibetan Plateau contains unsafe levels of PFAS • Even four parts per trillion of PFOA in water combined with other exposure can maintain blood levels as high as two parts per billion

Maps show PFAS contamination across the US, Europe, and Australia, allowing people to check contamination levels in their areas.

• Derek lived in Los Angeles areas with high PFHxS levels, particularly Santa Clarita with 37 parts per trillion • Calculator estimates showed 10 years of exposure at this level would result in approximately 6.85 ppb blood serum level, nearly matching his actual result of 6.84 ppb

• Only in April 2024 did the US EPA finally set legal limits for PFAS in drinking water • The safe level for PFOA was reduced from DuPont's 1 ppb to 4 parts per trillion • The same limits apply to PFOS and PFHxS, while GenX decreased from 70,000 ppt to just 10 ppt

• EPA's PFAS limits are far stricter than other chemicals (lead at 10,000 ppt, cyanide at 200,000 ppt) • A new US administration may be reversing some PFAS bans, making it difficult to depend on regulators • Individual responsibility for water filtration should not be required; PFAS should be captured at manufacturing source

• PFAS-certified filters including reverse osmosis, granular active carbon, and ion exchange can remove PFAS from drinking water • Companies like Puraffinity are developing custom filters for factories using electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic/hydrophilic binding mechanisms • A 10-liter vessel can provide PFAS treatment for a household for one year before requiring replacement

• Top priorities: stopping smoking, exercising, consuming healthy whole-food diet, getting 7-9 hours of sleep • Medium interventions: seeing primary care doctor, controlling cholesterol • Lower tier: PFAS reduction (currently the only option as no approved medical treatments exist)

• Male PFAS levels are consistently higher until age 50, when menopause typically starts • Menstruation, birth, and lactation are ways PFAS escape the female body • PFAS passes through the placenta during pregnancy and can be transferred through breast milk to infants

A 2022 study found firefighters who donated blood or plasma frequently reduced their PFAS levels by up to 30% within a year.

• PFAS should be banned completely from hygiene products, cosmetics, and food packaging • Some countries are already implementing these bans • Medical implants, semiconductors, vaccine manufacturing tubing, and space suits still require PFAS and cannot currently be manufactured without them

• Scientists across disciplines are developing destruction mechanisms for PFAS • Novel capture materials are being created to remove PFAS from contaminated water • Research into novel PFAS replacements is underway with promising developments in the field

• As consumers become aware of PFAS dangers, they demand chemical-free products • Companies are voluntarily removing these chemicals from products in response to consumer demand • Public awareness drives market change faster than regulation in many cases

• Similar toxic chemicals like leaded gasoline, Freon, and asbestos were phased out after research showed dangers • With PFAS, we are just beginning to understand the problem • There is hope that society will make the same decision again to phase out these forever chemicals