Thread regarding 3M layoffs

PFAS is definitely NOT harmless.

@3hat+1o6vDh6M

And while you’re at it, go pick up some Drano.

This does explain the absence of testicular fortitude of all our coc and svps… lets get them evian so that they grow back their raisins

"A DoD study in 1974 found that PFAS was fatal to fish. By 1983, an Air Force technical report showed its deadly effects on mice."

Yes, lab toxicity studies on fish and mice (and other creatures) are pretty standard for new chemicals. 3M's tests gave the same basic answers as the military. The tests are DESIGNED to try and ki-l both creatures. The whole damn point is to find out what a harmful dose is before finding that out in a person.

If you are worried about PFAS you should really look up how the laundry bleach, dishwasher detergent, and a bunch of other household products intentionally dumped into water every day perform in those same tests.

My prior post with the Roman lead pipe analogy still applies. (That was me, not Varys)

Just because we know today that lead pipes are bad does not mean the ancient Romans were in an evil conspiracy and all lead is evil.

Just because we know today that PFAS accumulates in the environment does not mean that 3M was in an evil conspiracy and all PFAS is evil.

While 3M readily paid its fines, there was no undoing the delay in regulatory action that resulted from the previous decades of keeping its damning information secret. While the studies sat in 3M’s private files, PFAS chemicals from the company’s facilities were entering the water in Minnesota, Alabama, and elsewhere, and PFOS and PFOA were accumulating in the environment and in people, the vast majority of whom now have the chemicals in their blood.

A DoD study in 1974 found that PFAS was fatal to fish. By 1983, an Air Force technical report showed its deadly effects on mice.

According to data provided by DoD, among more than 9,000 firefighters who requested the tests in fiscal year 2021, 96% had at least one of two types of PFAS in their blood serum, with PFOS being the most commonly detected at an average level of 3.1 nanograms per milliliter.

More than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed over AFFF and PFAS contamination; beyond 3M’s massive settlement, DuPont and other manufacturers reached a $1.185 billion agreement with water utility companies in June.

As far back as 1950, studies conducted by 3M showed that the family of toxic fluorinated chemicals now known as PFAS could build up in our blood. By the 1960s, animal studies conducted by 3M and DuPont revealed that PFAS chemicals could pose health risks. But the companies kept the studies secret from their employees and the public for decades.

Wrong Varys:

https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/12/15/toxic-3m-knew-its-chemicals-were-harmful-decades-ago-but-didnt-tell-the-public-government/

I've read the PBS article and skimmed the study underlying it.

My thoughts: A great piece of evidence supporting eliminating PFOS in firefighting foam. 3M should do that... oh wait they did... 20 years ago.

To everyone who is thinking '3M knew' - that just doesn't make sense with the concept of linear time. It took 30 years of data to find that a fairly rare cancer became slightly less rare in firefighters that were regularly soaked in PFOS foam. (The photos in the PBS article are listed as from 2013, 3M had been out of the PFOS business for a decade by then.)

It's absolutely disgusting what 3M did, covering up, knowing the dangers of this chemical. I hope they have to pay way more than that 10 billion that they want to get away with paying.

Some repeatedly deny the hazards of PFAS, which tells all free-thinking people that the deniers are not rowing with both oars in the water.

"30 years of data" was enough to prove cigarettes are harmful to health and cause cancer. Many more maladies to be directly linked to PFAS. This is only the beginning.

3M first labeled the material as hazardous in the 1960's. Oops.

@pxi+1o6vDh6M

Nope, not me. I'm willing to to put my name to the posts and haven't read the PBS story yet. I might comment once I've read it.

To get the cute bullet points (CBP (tm) (r) (pat. pend.) ) just put a hyphen at the front of the line with a space after. It really surprised me when the site turned them into bullet points.

"- This" turns into

• This with CBP

Varys posts anonymously but uses cute bullet points.

Hey OP, you wrote: "This material has been a clear hazard from day one."

Simple question: On "Day One", what evidence of hazard was there or could have been reasonably predicted? Please be specific in your response since it was so clear.

The just published study had to go and get 30 years of data to show a PFOS concentration was linked higher (roughly 2x) testicular cancer risk. The exact same study showed that PFOA and PFHxS (two other PFAS compounds) had no effect on testicular cancer risk.

The PBS report cited USAF studies that concluded:

• PFOA was suitable for biodegradation
• Actually inhibited cancer cell growth
• Was acutely toxic when directly injected into mice at dr-g-typical concentrations (50 mg/kg) - no sh-t sherlock, start injecting things into mice and they might die.

Phasing out of casual PFAS uses is a good thing for society, but this 'they knew on day one' conspiracy thinking is a sign of demented mind. Do you blame the Romans for lead pipes too?

No protection for lungs or breathing in first picture. In the second picture, he is covered in the PFAS foam. The damage to the environment and to global health is beyond our understanding. Why would 3M recommend periodic tests of fire supression foam? Not only were worked exposed, the run off carried it into streams, lakes, and water table. The same water we are drinking today. No amount of money can fix this.

The picture of workers covered in 3M foam is tragic.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/study-links-forever-chemicals-exposure-to-testicular-cancer-among-military-personnel

Link to source?

3M’s ongoing denial of the negative impact PFAS has on humans, animals, etc., is disgraceful and criminal.