Who was on watch and ultimately responsible: DuPont CEO Charles B. McCoy (1967 to 1981)

in the 1970s, twenty years after 3M showed PFAS bioaccumulation in mice, DuPont’s researchers confirmed that PFOA builds up in human bloodstream. PFOA or C8 will be later identified as an endocrine disruptor that interferes with the hormonal system and exerts its toxicity in unexpected ways.

In 1976 scientists detected PFOA in pooled blood.

In 1978 3M reported that C8 was detected in the blood of its workers. They concluded that PFOA and PFOS “should be regarded as toxic.” DuPont’s Haskel Lab director, Bruce Karrh and his colleagues began reviewing employee medical records and measuring the level of C8 in the blood of DuPont workers in Parkersburg, and the DuPont plant in Deepwater, New Jersey, where the company had been using C8 and related chemicals since the 1950s. They found that exposed workers at the New Jersey plant had increased rates of endocrine disorders. They also found that, like dogs and rats, people employed at the DuPont plants more frequently had abnormal liver function tests after C8 exposure.

DuPont elected not to disclose its findings to regulators. Despite reasonable evidence to the contrary, Karrh claimed that the abnormal test results did not prove adverse health effects related to C8. When asked about the decision in deposition, Karrh said that “at that point in time, we saw no substantial risk, so therefore we saw no obligation to report.”

3M and DuPont confirmed that C8 accumulates in workers’ blood and body tissues, causing elevated liver enzyme.

By 1979, DuPont knew about studies showing that C8-exposed beagles had abnormal enzyme levels “indicative of cellular damage.” At some threshold concentration of C8 the animals died. DuPont also knew of the 1978 3M study showing that some rhesus monkeys also died when exposed to C8. 3M scientists divided the primates into five groups and exposed them to different amounts of C8 over 90 days. Those given the highest dose all died within five weeks. More notable was that three of the monkeys who received less than half that amount also died, their faces and gums growing pale and their eyes swelling before they wasted away. Some of the monkeys given the lower dose began losing weight in the first week it was administered. C8 also affected monkeys’ kidneys.

DuPont knew that PFOA and PFOS were toxic and accumulated in people’s blood. They ultimately acknowledged that C8 was most toxic when inhaled.

In 1979, in an internal memo by scientists in DuPont, in which they called people exposed to C8 “receptors”, scientists found “significantly higher incidence of allergic, endocrine and metabolic disorders” as well as “excess risk of developing liver disease.” DuPont did not disclose results to the EPA.

These are the faces of the DuPont men and women who sanctioned–encouraged–the willful harm of other life to make a profit. Despite knowing the danger posed by exposure to PFOAs of people, these DuPont CEOs chose to: 1) continue to poison the environment and people, 2) cover up their actions from authorities, and 3) fight the courts and regulators from doing the right thing when they were caught. No one went to jail. No one was fired. They just paid $$$ and shamefully kept going. This is NOT good business. This is NOT being a good person. This is gross disrespect for all life and ultimately heinous criminal behaviour deserving more meaningful prosecution than a simple fine.

References:

Fluoride Action Network Pesticide Project. “Timeline for PFOA and PFOS perfluorinated chemicals compiled by FAN’s Pesticide Project” Draft document.

Blake, Marion, Huff Post “Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia”

Gaber, Nadia, Lisa Bero, and Tracey J. Woodruff. 2023. “The Devil they Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science.” Ann Glob Health 89(1): 37.

Halmeriks, Koen and Irina Surdu. 2020. “Dark Waters: what DuPont scandal can teach companies about doing the right thing.” The Conversation.

Kelly, Sharon. 2016. “DuPont’s deadly deceit: The decades-long cover-up behind he “world’s most slippery material.” Salon.

Lerner, Sharon. 2015. “The Teflon Toxin: DuPont and the Chemistry of Deception.” The Intercept.