The disappearing words exposing 3M’s decades of deception over cancer link

After 3M learnt that 1 of its best-selling chemicals had contaminated the humor of the wide population, it was what the company’s interior documents didn’t accidental that was astir incriminating.

It was April 1979 and the Wall Street giant’s apical executives hopped successful the institution pitchy and flew from their office successful Minnesota to San Francisco for secretive talks with 2 world-leading scientists to gauge their sentiment connected a pressing issue.

How large a occupation did the institution person pursuing the find its occurrence waterproofing ingredient, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), had been turning up successful the humor of the wide public?

The reply was ominous. The substance caused symptoms successful animals “similar to those observed with carcinogens”, the scientists warned.

3M’s planetary office successful Maplewood, Minnesota.Credit: Bloomberg

If precocious levels were wide successful people’s humor for agelong enough: “we could person a superior problem”.

But erstwhile the last mentation of the gathering minutes was published, those comments had mysteriously disappeared.

But arsenic elaborate successful a caller documentary probe from Stan, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, whoever removed them near a way of breadcrumbs.

Fast-forward forty years and an earlier draught inactive containing the damning comments had been near sitting successful 3M’s files, waiting to beryllium subpoenaed by people enactment lawyers who pounced connected their smoking gun.

Last period they reached a $US12.5 cardinal ($19 billion) colony with the chemicals maker implicit the contamination of thousands of h2o supplies crossed America with the chemical.

It was our ‘holy shit’ moment. Like, radical bash this?

“This world-renowned expert, his decision was wholly deleted from the last draft,” lawyer Gary Douglas says successful the caller documentary, How to Poison a Planet.

“It was our ‘holy shit’ moment. Like, radical bash this?” says Douglas, a spouse astatine New York instrumentality steadfast Douglas and London and the pb proceedings counsel successful the caller lawsuit against 3M.

The movie lifts the lid connected 3M’s alleged decades of deception aft it discovered its chemic PFOS had contaminated the full satellite done its wide usage successful nutrient packaging, the best-selling cloth protector, Scotchgard, and firefighting foam sprayed astatine airports, occurrence stations and Defence bases.

Almost nary Australian has escaped unscathed, with revelations 98 per cent of the colonisation has been contaminated with everlastingly chemicals.

By the aboriginal 2000s, erstwhile 3M pulled PFOS disconnected the market, astir Australians had levels successful their humor good supra what the company’s own scientists deemed safe.

Critical words disappeared from the gathering minutes. Credit: IKANDY FILMS & KINGDOM OF LUDD

In caller years, authorities successful the United States and Europe person linked everlastingly chemicals, besides known arsenic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances oregon PFAS, to cancer, suppression of the immune system, precocious cholesterin and endocrine disruption.

The US EPA has precocious designated PFOS a hazardous substance. It says determination is nary harmless level of vulnerability successful drinking water.

Now a trove of correspondence unearthed by this masthead has raised caller questions astir whether 3M decently warned the Australian authorities of the risks of the foam containing PFOS.

It tin beryllium revealed that a 3M worker told Australian bureaucrats the foam’s discarded could beryllium allowed to “bleed” into the environment. The comments were made successful a missive written successful 1985, years aft the institution was warned astir the chemical’s carcinogenic imaginable successful the gathering with the vanishing minutes.

At the time, the Fortune 500 institution besides knew the PFOS successful the foam killed monkeys successful laboratory studies, would not interruption down successful the situation and was “considerably” much toxic than anticipated, its ain interior documents show.

Gary Douglas, the proceedings lawyer who took connected 3M implicit PFAS chemicals.Credit: Stan

The 1985 missive is apt to beryllium a flashpoint if the Department of Defence follows done connected its menace to writer 3M for firefighting foam contamination that has seeped disconnected its bases and poisoned tens of thousands of Australian homes.

So far, Australian taxpayers person been saddled with a measure of much than $366 cardinal to settee people actions launched against Defence by those homeowners.

The trove of documents, obtained by this masthead from the National Archives of Australia, besides amusement sedate warnings were sounded from wrong the NSW authorities successful the 1980s that the foam could contaminate drinking h2o if it was allowed to flight into waterways.

The documents radiance a airy connected the disturbing grade to which the foam has besides been utilized astatine the country’s large airports.

Emergency services unit from crossed Victoria attended grooming courses with the foam astatine Melbourne Airport aggregate times a week implicit the decades. 21,600 litres of the foam ore were sprayed astatine Tullamarine successful 1984 alone.

When a tiny occurrence broke retired a twelvemonth aboriginal astatine Avalon airport, it took lone 2 minutes for a deluge of astir 35,000 litres of firefighting foam solution to beryllium sprayed implicit the floor.

It was past “squeegeed” into a drain astatine the hangar, which belonged to Government Aircraft Factories.

Aviation firefighters usage foam contaminated with PFAS successful Victoria successful 1998.

“It took astir 3 hours to cleanable the floor,” a briefing insubstantial said. “It is estimated astir 60,000 litres of h2o was utilized to lavation down the hangar.”

Authorities closed the airport’s occurrence station successful 2022 aft unsafe levels of everlastingly chemicals were discovered successful the drinking water.

Documents amusement interest was brewing wrong aggregate Australian authorities departments astir the disposal of the firefighting discarded successful the aboriginal 1980s.

A argumentation drafted successful 1984 outlined 5 acceptable ways of dealing with it, including diluting it and discharging it to aboveground h2o oregon the sewerage system, disposing of it connected onshore wherever it would not importantly impact groundwater, by evaporation oregon by dumping tiny quantities.

“Selection of the due disposal method volition beryllium connected outgo and biology factors for the peculiar location,” the draught argumentation said.

The draught provoked a furious effect from a NSW bureaucrat, who warned it contravened the instrumentality and could effect successful the contamination of the public’s drinking water.

“The summary is wholly unacceptable to NSW,” said the director, who worked wrong the NSW part of the Department of Housing and Construction

“The occupation is contamination of groundwater which whitethorn beryllium permanently contaminated and past the h2o would beryllium unsuitable for either industrial, cultivation oregon potable use.”

The manager savaged the thought of diluting the waste, informing it would spot unacceptable accent connected waterways by leaving them with inadequate oxygen.

“The NSW Region has tally grooming courses connected discarded attraction and the rhyme “the solution to contamination is dilution” is powerfully emphasised arsenic a process of the past”, the manager said.

“To contented a usher with dilution suggested is to undo galore years of hard enactment and reintroduce a mendacious process.”

The manager noted the RAAF basal astatine Richmond successful Sydney could trap astir 1 cardinal litres of firefighting foam solution successful the lawsuit of a occurrence and if that ended up successful the Hawkesbury River it could person “a terrible effect connected the ecosystem”.

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His warnings basal successful stark opposition to the comments made by 3M successful effect to the draught policy.

A manager astatine its Sydney office said helium had consulted with his counterparts astatine caput bureau successful the United States and: “their wide content of the draught is that it is reasonably close and a tenable attack to what tin make into an emotive issue.”

The institution was supportive of diluting the discarded and said this could besides beryllium accomplished by the “slow bleeding” of much concentrated discarded into the environment.

The 3M manager said the draught could finalise “what has been a contentious contented for immoderate years”.

After the NSW bureaucrat’s scathing reappraisal of the draught policy, a handwritten enactment said it would beryllium changed to trim the accent connected dilution. However, the documents suggest that, years later, the argumentation had inactive not been finalised.

This masthead contacted aggregate authorities departments to ascertain the result but did not person a response.

A Department of Defence spokesperson said the authorities was “considering its options” successful narration to the manufacturers and suppliers liable for selling the foam to the government.

“Defence’s precedence is to assistance the communities impacted by PFAS contamination connected and astir Defence bases, by reducing their vulnerability to PFAS,” the spokesperson said.

3M has not admitted immoderate liability successful reaching the caller tribunal colony successful the United States. In effect to this masthead’s elaborate questions, a institution spokeswoman issued the pursuing statement:

“3M is committed to providing close accusation astir PFAS with due context,” she said.

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“We person shared important accusation astir PFAS implicit the decades, including the results of studies 3M conducted connected PFOS.

“3M besides published galore of its findings regarding PFAS successful publically disposable technological journals dating backmost to the aboriginal 1980s. Those journals were and stay disposable to the technological assemblage and the public.”

She declined to remark connected immoderate circumstantial statements made by 3M employees to the Australian government.

Revealed: How To Poison A Planet present streaming, lone connected Stan.