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On Monday, February 8, 2010, The Minneapolis Star Tribune published a front page story about 3M’s communications with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding PFCs (perfluorochemicals). 3M believes the newspaper article omitted essential facts.
The Star Tribune story dealt with two meetings of 3M scientists with academic researchers and scientists from EPA. The first meeting was held in September 2009, and was hosted by 3M. The purpose of this meeting was to share the results of ongoing and planned research regarding PFCs. Scientists from 3M, the EPA, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Kansas, Penn State University, Stockholm University (Sweden) and from contract laboratories made technical presentations at the meeting. This meeting allowed 3M researchers to receive input from the EPA on 3M-sponsored research. 3M and EPA have had an ongoing dialog about the scientific research on these substances for over a decade.
Several weeks later, in October of 2009, scientists from some of the same research organizations, 3M and DuPont, and representatives from other companies met with representatives from the EPA Office of Water and other EPA Offices in Washington, DC. The meeting was hosted by EPA. Some of the material covered at the meeting in September was presented to the Office of Water. The purpose of this meeting was to share the results of the research that has been conducted plus other scientific information requested by EPA. All of the presentations at this meeting, including 3M’s presentations, were made public following the meeting. A link to the EPA’s website where the materials are available is provided below. We are also providing a link to the 19-page bibliography of published scientific literature that was shared with EPA.
Following the meeting with the Office of Water, which was widely publicized in environmental news bulletins, 3M hosted a meeting in early December for interested local media. Mr. Meersman and his editor, Maureen McCarthy were invited, but only Mr. Meersman attended from the Star Tribune. Lorna Benson attended on behalf of Minnesota Public Radio, while the Pioneer Press declined to attend. The purpose of this briefing was to explain the purpose of the EPA meeting and to share the principal presentation made by 3M at the Office of Water meeting. This presentation was primarily about the published epidemiology literature on PFCs. After the meeting, the reporters who attended were sent the PowerPoint slides.
So since October, all of the presentations made to the EPA Office of Water were posted on EPA’s website, and since early December, the Star Tribune and Mr. Meersman had their own copies of the key presentation on epidemiologic research made to the EPA Office of Water. The idea that the content of these meetings was not available or not known is not supported by the facts.
Another misleading element the Star Tribune story dealt with the fact that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) had not been included in either of the EPA meetings. The meeting in September 2009 in the Twin Cities was intended to be for scientists who are conducting ongoing research in this field. MDH has not performed its own epidemiology or toxicology research of PFCs. Since 2007, however, 3M has been submitting monthly reports to MDH regarding the company’s PFC research program. Moreover, following the EPA Office of Water meeting, 3M provided a detailed briefing on the epidemiology information presented at the EPA meeting for MDH on December 4, 2009.
3M takes issue with the allegations of the Star Tribune story that its conduct regarding PFCs has not been transparent. It was 3M’s initiative in the late 1990s that brought the PFC issue to the attention of the EPA, and the company followed up those actions with its voluntary phase out of the PFOS and PFOA-related chemistry beginning in 2000. Even though 3M no longer manufactures either of the primary molecules at issue, the company has remained committed to the advancement of the scientific understanding of the chemistry in an open and transparent manner. Since the late 1990s, 3M scientists have published more than 70 peer-reviewed biomonitoring, epidemiology and toxicology papers regarding PFCs in the scientific literature, often in collaboration with scientists such as those who attended the September 2009 meeting. 3M’s research and dealings with government agencies on PFCs is a matter of public record, and 3M is proud of this record.
Below are links to the Star Tribune story, the EPA’s website where the public materials can be viewed, and the bibliography of scientific literature.
Star Tribune, February 8, 2010: http://www.startribune.com/local/83773837.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
EPA Office of Water materials: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/pubs/activities.html#seminar
Bibliography of scientific literature:
Information about PFOS and PFOA
Issues of chemical safety and environmental responsibility are the subject of increasing public interest. Government agencies in the U.S. and around the world are studying many compounds to determine the safe levels of these materials in the environment to protect human health. In recent years about 200 compounds, both man-made and other chemicals, have been found in the blood stream of the general population (according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control data).
3M created this website primarily to address two compounds currently being reviewed. These compounds are known as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perflurorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
“In more than 25 years of medical surveillance we have observed no adverse health effects in our employees resulting from their exposure to PFOS or PFOA. This is very important since the level of exposure in the general population is much lower than that of production employees who worked directly with these materials.”
- Larry Zobel MD, MPH, 3M Medical Director
Since 3M at one time was a leading manufacturer of PFOA, PFOS and PFOS-related products, we have created this web site to answer your questions and provide links and references to information resources independent of 3M.
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