NY Attorney General Sues 3M, Others Over 'Forever Chemicals'

By Elias Schisgall

New York's attorney general sued a group of major chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they deceived consumers about the risks of toxic chemicals in their products.

The lawsuit by Attorney General Letitia James targets 3M, Chemours, and DuPont de Nemours, as well as EIDP and its parent Corteva. The companies marketed products containing a group of chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl substances--often called PFAS or "forever chemicals"--while knowing they posed risks to consumers and the environment, James said.

PFAS chemicals are able to persist in the environment for years without breaking down, according to The Wall Street Journal. Studies have linked PFAS to several health problems, including high cholesterol, a lower immune response to vaccines, and a higher risk of kidney cancer, per the Journal.

James alleged the companies knew about the risks of PFAS while marketing their products, adding that they deceived consumers about their PFAS exposure and failed to warn the public about the chemicals' risks. In a Thursday press release, she singled out 3M and DuPont for being aware that PFAS were toxic as early as the 1970s and 1980s, respectively.

"Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers' health and polluted our environment for decades," James said. "It's time for them to pay for the damage they caused."

None of the companies named in the lawsuit immediately responded to requests for comment.

James is asking the court to declare that the companies' use of PFAS was harmful for the environment and for human health in New York, as well as to require the companies to warn consumers of the risks of PFAS and to remediate any contamination. She is also requesting compensatory damages, civil penalties and disgorgement.

The lawsuit comes less than a month after Chemours agreed to a $450 million settlement with the Department of Justice over its use of PFAS at facilities in West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey. The company discharged the chemicals into water sources in the three states for more than a decade, the Justice Department had alleged.

Shares of Chemours were down 3.8% to $17.70 in Thursday afternoon trading. DuPont shares fell 1.1%, and Corteva declined 0.9%. 3M was trading up 0.9% at $156.12.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 09, 2026 13:54 ET (17:54 GMT)