Most of you reading this are aware that PFAS belong to a family of compounds that are widely used in products, such as fire fighting foam, stain repellant coatings, and nonstick surfaces. Attorney Clay Hodges has written about PFAS in Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) on this blog site. Please check out those previous blog posts if you are looking for more specific information regarding AFFF. There have been recent developments in the litigation surrounding PFAS, which this article will dive into, as well as provide background information about the chemicals themselves.
What are PFAS?
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances are a group of man-made chemicals that have been used in various industrial and consumer products since the 1940s. Known as ‘forever chemicals,’ they take an extended amount of time to break down in the environment, and in the human body. There are thousands of different PFAS: Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) are two of the most widely used PFAS, and are the subject of recent EPA regulation, which will be discussed later in this article.