![]() Janet Mills supports the lawsuits filed by Frey’s office. In addition to the lawsuit filed by the Maine attorney general's office, there are also at least two class-action lawsuits filed against PFAS manufacturers by homeowners and other plaintiffs in Maine. In response, Maine and many states have set strict standards for PFAS in drinking water or put in place other regulations in the absence of federal action on PFAS. ![]() They became popular decades ago in such major-label products as Teflon, which was produced by DuPont, and 3M's Scotchgard coatings used in carpets, upholster and other fabrics.īut a growing body of scientific research has linked some varieties of PFAS to a host of health problems, including cancer, kidney disease, high cholesterol, low birth weight and reduced vaccine response in children. Short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS are a class of thousands of chemicals that are often used as coatings in a wide variety of products. Some of those farms have now shut down and the state, which licensed the sludge-spreading program, has set aside more than $100 million for PFAS investigations and response. More than 50 contaminated farms have been identified so far, along with hundreds of private residential wells often located near fields where contaminated sludge was spread. The state is in the middle of a multi-year investigation of PFAS contamination tied to sludge or industrial byproducts that were spread on farmers' fields as fertilizer. PFAS manufacturers must account for the environmental, health and economic damage caused by their actions.” “Maine citizens and the state are left to manage the harm these chemicals cause in our natural resources, our animals, our food, and our bodies, and the state is working overtime to manage the fallout. “The defendant manufacturers have willfully introduced toxic chemicals into Maine’s environment in pursuit of profit for shareholders,” Frey said in a statement. ![]() manufacturing but that do not readily break down in the body or the environment, hence the nickname "forever chemicals." PFOA and PFOS are two types of the chemical class that are no longer used in U.S. "3M and DuPont knew for decades that PFOA and PFOS in particular were toxic and posted substantial health and environmental risks, but they covered up this information and instead promoted these chemical products as safe and appropriate for widespread use," reads one lawsuit. Frey's office filed two lawsuits in Cumberland County Superior Court, one targeting PFAS manufacturers and another against those chemical makers as well as companies that produced firefighting foams that used PFAS. ![]()
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