Read full article by Dennis Pillion (Alabama Live)
“The 3M Company announced Thursday that it would ‘temporarily idle certain manufacturing processes,’ at its Decatur facility as concerns continue to grow over chemicals called PFAS and their impacts on human health.
PFAS chemicals have been used in products like ScotchGard for decades, but are under increased scrutiny from environmental agencies in recent years, as links between the chemicals and health problems, including cancer, have come to light.
The EPA issued a health advisory in 2016 that eight Alabama drinking water systems had levels of contamination that could be associated with health problems over a lifetime of exposure…
WMEL recently reached a settlement with 3M to pay for a $35 million filter system to remove PFAS chemicals from their source water…
3M spokesman Fanna Haile-Selassie said the company planned to shift responsibilities at the plant to ‘maintain the employment of all affected workers.’
Haile-Selassie said the processes that are being halted are related to ‘fluoropolymer manufacturing at 3M Decatur.’
For decades, 3M manufactured several different kinds of PFAS chemicals at its Decatur plant on the banks of the Tennessee River. The chemicals are used to create non-stick and stain-resistant coatings on consumer products including cookware, carpets, clothing, food packaging and to make fire-fighting foams often found at airports and military bases…
Two of the most common PFAS chemicals — PFOA and PFOS — had been retired voluntarily by 3M and other manufacturers in the early 2000s, yet substitute chemicals emerged to replace these older compounds that had similar chemical structure. There are dozens of such replacement chemicals and their potential health impacts have not been studied nearly as much.”