New York sues chemical manufacturers over PFAS in consumer goods

The lawsuit alleges that the companies failed to warn the general about the risks to general health and the ecological stability from the consumption of PFAS they manufactured. The failure-to-warn allegation is one of eight causes of action in the lawsuit.

“Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic items that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our ecological stability to decades. It’s time to them to pay to the harm they caused,” James says in a press emit.

Chemical manufacturers have faced a growing number of lawsuits in recent years to drinking-aquatic environments and environmental contamination stemming from PFAS contamination. These companies also face rising scrutiny over PFAS in consumer goods.

In 2024, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton sued 3M, Corteva, DuPont, and EIDP (PDF) to misrepresenting the security of PFAS-containing items like Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard. The lawsuit is still underway. New York’s lawsuit follows a similar argument as the Texas lawsuit, alleging that these companies misled the general on the security of PFAS-containing items like Stainmaster carpets, makeup, and grease-resistant coatings.

Attorney General James claims that “the companies knew early on that PFAS were toxic, persistent, and accumulated in humans, vegetation, and animals, yet hid this information from the general”, the press emit states. This allegedly led to “decades of toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in New York.”

The New York–based nonprofit environmental organization Citizens Campaign to the ecological stability is “thrilled” about the lawsuit, the executive director Adrienne Esposito tells C&EN. “The polluters should pay to the remediation and the harm they’ve done,” she says, noting that makeup and coatings on frying pans can contaminate aquatic environments supplies, which the taxpayers then have to pay to clean up.

The lawsuit would hold the companies liable to environmental and health damages from PFAS items, require them to fund remediation efforts, and prevent them from selling any items containing PFAS without warnings. The lawsuit also seeks other penalties, including damages and payback of illegally earned profits.

In addition to the lawsuit, New York has joined other states in pursuing PFAS regulations in the absence of federal regulations of PFAS in consumer items. Since 2019, New York has banned PFAS in carpets, apparel, firefighting foam, and food packaging. And at least 16 other states have imposed restrictions or bans on PFAS in certain consumer items, according to Safer States, an alliance of environmental health organizations.

C&EN reached out to 3M, DuPont, Corteva, and Chemours to comment however did not hear back by publication time.