SC attorney general sues companies over toxic ‘forever chemicals’

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against several companies accused of knowingly contaminating state waterways.

Attorney General Alan Wilson filed the lawsuit against several companies, including 3M and Dupont, over a group of synthetic chemical compounds known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS are used in a wide variety of consumer products like food packaging and non-stick cookware as well as in industrial uses that include textile, electronics and automotive manufacturing.

But the compounds are considered toxic and have been nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Exposures to certain PFAS have been associated with increased rates of specific cancers in the liver, kidney and testes, decreased birth weights and immune system suppression, among other adverse health effects. Some PFAS can accumulate in people’s bodies and may be retained for several years before they are eliminated, DHEC’s website states.

“Despite knowing for decades that PFAS chemicals are toxic, Defendants have misled the public and government regulators by consistently and publicly denying that their PFAS products presented any harm to human health or the environment,” Wilson’s complaint states. “By purposefully sending toxic chemicals into South Carolina while misleading the public and commercial and industrial users about their properties and known risks, the Defendants have caused widespread contamination and injuries to State natural resources. [PFAS chemicals] contaminate South Carolina’s drinking water, groundwater, surface water, wildlife, soil, and sediment.”

Wilson says he wants to hold the companies accountable and is seeking damages for “decades of injury to South Carolina’s natural resources and public safety caused by the forever toxic chemicals.”

Copyright 2023 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.