Blog Post 04.24.24
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Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, are the subject of heightened scrutiny by federal and state governments, based on alleged concerns regarding their impacts on human health and the environment.
First patented in the late 1940s and commercialized in the 1950s, PFAS are synthetic chemicals used in a wide array of consumer and industrial products. While useful for their hydrophobic and lipophobic properties, federal and state agencies have been increasingly scrutinizing the persistence of these chemicals, many of which are resistant to natural degradation in the environment. This is why PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.”
The quantity of PFAS chemicals in commercial distribution is unclear, but certain authorities, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s National PFAS Datasets estimates that more than 12,000 PFAS chemicals exist, whereas the European Union has the number at over 10,000. An important point to bear in mind is that PFAS have become an area of focus for federal and state agencies, as well as the private-party litigants. In 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which promises a “whole-of-agency” approach, utilizing all of EPA’s statutory authorities and internal departments to regulating PFAS, and a number of state agencies have made also taken important steps to regulate PFAS and impose liability on parties responsible for introducing PFAS into commerce or causing their release into the environment.
PFAS-related lawsuits and enforcement actions are on the upswing, and the financial and reputational risks associated with PFAS are extreme both in dollar amount and scope. To date, PFAS related suits brought by state agencies and private parties have resulted in settlements obligating primary manufacturers of PFAS to incur liabilities on the order of several hundreds of millions of dollars and, and in one case, over ten billion dollars. Increasingly, governmental agencies and private-party litigants are looking beyond primary manufacturers to companies that have incorporated PFAS into their products or distributed products that contain PFAS. Thus, PFAS liability may attach in different ways and to various companies, even those with only a remote or indirect nexus to these chemicals.
Addressing such a sprawling, persistent and multiheaded threat requires an approach that is proactive, nimble, and comprehensive. Pillsbury has a dedicated PFAS Task Force that is interdisciplinary and, therefore, well positioned to help clients assess and mitigate potential liability exposure associated with PFAS. The PFAS Task Force includes practitioners that specialize in environmental law, toxic torts, public policy, and insurance recovery. This enables us to help clients understand and assess potential exposures to PFAS-related liabilities, defend against enforcement actions and litigation, mitigate or offset PFAS risks, and influence the fast-evolving legal landscape relevant to PFAS.
Our team tracks and comments upon the latest PFAS developments on Pillsbury’s PFAS Observer.
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