What is PFAS?

PFAS stands for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, which are a large group of human-made chemicals that have been used in industrial and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s. PFAS are widely used because of their unique ability to resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. This makes PFAS valuable in a wide variety of applications, including non-stick cookware, water-repellent fabrics, stain-resistant carpets, firefighting foams, and in the manufacturing of some food packaging.

PFAS Exposure and Health Problems

PFAS exposure commonly occurs when someone consumes water that is tainted with PFAS. It does not take much PFAS to render drinking water unsafe for consumption. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided that concentrations of PFAS in excess of .02 parts per trillion were dangerous. To put this in perspective, one drop of PFAS in 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools is considered dangerous.

Exposure to PFAS leads to substantial health problems. Research has linked significant exposure to PFAS to ulcerative colitis and certain other types of cancers. Specifically, the following types of cancers are associated with PFAS exposure:

  • Kidney Cancer
  • Testicular Cancer
  • Liver Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer

PFAS exposure can also lead to other health problems like increased cholesterol levels and increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women. Jacobson Injury Lawyers is currently accepting PFAS cases where the injured party either has kidney cancer, testicular cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer or ulcerative colitis.

How to Determine If PFAS Caused Your Injury

Determining the connection between PFAS and certain medical conditions can be challenging. Most people injured by PFAS consumption do not immediately identify their injury with the consumption of water contaminated with PFAS. However, there are two important factors that when taken together can tend to suggest that your kidney, testicular, liver or pancreatic cancer or ulcerative colitis may have been caused by PFAS exposure.

Common PFAS Exposure Sites

First, PFAS-related injuries occur in places where there is PFAS contamination. PFAS contamination exists throughout the country. Although PFAS may be found in a wide variety of locations, PFAS contamination commonly exists in and around firefighter training areas, military bases, airports, and large fire stations. PFAS contamination also exists near manufacturing facilities that produce or used PFAS, such as chemical plants and factories producing non-stick cookware or waterproof clothing. The attorneys at Jacobson Injury Lawyers know where PFAS contamination occurred across the country and can preliminarily correlate your PFAS exposure to your residence, place of employment, or other activity in the impacted area.

PFAS Blood Tests

Second, individuals who were injured PFAS may have PFAS in their blood which can be determined by a blood test. PFAS stays in your blood supply for an extended period of time because PFAS is engineered to be chemically stable and resistant to breakdown – this is a great feature for waterproof consumer goods like frying pans but disastrous when consumed. Further, your body has difficulty getting rid of PFAS. Testing positive for PFAS in your blood is not dispositive for your case; you may have a PFAS case even if you do not test positive for PFAS. The converse is also true – just because you have PFAS in your blood does not necessarily mean that you will contract a PFAS-related injury. When you hire Jacobson Injury Lawyers to seek compensation for your PFAS injury, we will both arrange and pay for your PFAS blood test.

How PFAS Gets Into The Water Supply

PFAS can enter water supplies through various pathways, largely due to their widespread use in consumer products, industrial processes, and firefighting foams. Accordingly, PFAS often gets into the water supply through the following mechanisms:

  • Industrial Discharge: Factories that manufacture PFAS-containing products or use these chemicals in their processes may release PFAS into the water through their wastewater discharge.
  • Firefighting Foam: PFAS are used in certain types of firefighting foams, particularly those designed for extinguishing oil and gasoline fires. Use of these foams, especially in training exercises at military bases, airports, and firefighting training facilities, can lead to PFAS infiltration into the soil and subsequent leaching into groundwater or direct discharge into surface water.
  • Landfills: Products containing PFAS that end up in landfills can leach these chemicals into the leachate (water that has percolated through waste material and extracted dissolved or suspended materials in the process). If the landfill is not properly lined or the leachate not appropriately treated, PFAS can contaminate groundwater or surface water sources.
  • Wastewater Treatment Plants: Conventional wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove PFAS from the water. Thus, PFAS present in the sewage (from household waste, industrial discharge, etc.) can pass through these plants and enter water bodies and our drinking water.

Due to their chemical stability and resistance to breakdown, once PFAS enter the water supply, they can persist for long periods, making them difficult to remove and leading to widespread environmental contamination. The persistence and mobility of PFAS in water underscore the importance of regulating their use and developing effective water treatment methods to remove these chemicals from contaminated water supplies.

Billions of Dollars and Counting

The PFAS litigation contains two components. The first component of the PFAS litigation were lawsuits filed by municipal and other governmental organizations claiming that the production, use, and disposal of PFAS by various companies led to widespread environmental contamination. This includes pollution of drinking water supplies, soil, and air. These plaintiffs argue that manufacturers and users of PFAS knew or should have known about the risks and persistence of these chemicals in the environment. Large multinational corporations, including DuPont, Chemours, Corteva, and 3M, have been the focus of PFAS litigation. In 2023, these defendants agreed to pay over $12 billion to settle PFAS claims brought by municipal and other governmental organizations claiming environmental contamination.

The second component of PFAS litigation is personal injury claims. Jacobson Injury Lawyers is accepting personal injury claims from people who consumed water contaminated by PFAS and later contracted kidney, testicular, liver, or pancreatic cancer or ulcerative colitis. The lawsuits against the PFAS manufacturers claim that PFAS manufacturers knew that PFAS (1) was toxic; (2) would readily migrate into surface water and groundwater; (3) would resist natural degradation; (4) makes drinking water unsafe for consumption and (4) would only be able to be removed from the water supply with substantial expense. Documents from the first part of the PFAS litigation (focusing on municipal water contamination) suggest that large corporate defendants knew about the dangers of PFAS since the 1980s but failed to disclose the risk of harm.

Who is Responsible?

The current focus of the PFAS litigation is large multinational corporations that manufactured PFAS. Companies that manufactured PFAS are being targeted because they allegedly had actual knowledge that PFAS could be harmful to humans and cause substantial environmental problems. These companies include but are not limited to the following companies:

  • 3M
  • DuPont
  • The Chemours Company
  • Corteva
  • Chemguard
  • Tyco Fire Products
  • National Foam, Inc.
  • Buckeye Fire Equipment Company
  • Kidde-Fenwal

Furthermore, there is forthcoming regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has the potential to expand the list of potentially responsible parties. This is because the EPA seems likely to classify PFAS as hazardous waste under CERCLA (a federal environmental law associated with Superfund sites), which would expand liability beyond those companies that manufactured PFAS. If the EPA determines that PFAS is a hazardous waste under CERCLA, then companies that transport, store, treat, or dispose of PFAS can also be held financially responsible. In short, if the EPA expands liability for PFAS under CERCLA, then PFAS litigation will be expanded to include these new parties.

Determining the party responsible for your PFAS injury is difficult. If you suspect that you qualify for the PFAS litigation, contact an attorney from Jacobson Injury Lawyers. We will investigate your case for no charge and provide you with a free case assessment. And when you hire an attorney from Jacobson Injury Lawyers there is never a fee unless you win or settle your case.

Do Not Delay – Contact Us Today

If you want compensation for your PFAS injury, you are required to file a lawsuit within a certain amount of time. The limitation of filing a claim is called the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations refers to the time limit within which a legal action can be brought. It varies depending on the type of legal claim and the jurisdiction. Once the statute of limitations has expired, a plaintiff may be barred from filing a lawsuit, regardless of the merits of their claim.

The statute of limitations is different for each state, with some states only allowing one year to file a claim. Regardless of how long the statute of limitations allows you to file a claim, it is important to know when the time to file your claim begins. Fortunately, the law often provides you with additional time to pursue a claim if the responsible party or injury is unknown, the claimant is a minor, or the company responsible for the harm fraudulently concealed facts, making it unlikely to discover the source of harm.

Determining the applicable statute of limitations and calculating how long you have to file a claim is a fact-intensive and complicated exercise. Call the lawyers at Jacobson Injury Lawyers today for a free case evaluation. We can help you determine the applicable statute of limitations and can file your claim quickly to ensure that you preserve your rights. And importantly, you will not pay fees or costs (including the cost of your PFAS blood test) until you have won or settled your case.

How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

If you have been injured on account of water contaminated by PFAS, determining if you have a legal claim can be overwhelming. Clients harmed by PFAS have questions about their claim and the legal process. Questions about your PFAS legal claim are most appropriately answered by a licensed attorney. Yet many people seeking a consultation from an attorney are routed to a call center employee or law firm administrator – not a licensed attorney.

All prospective PFAS clients who contact Jacobson Injury Lawyers are immediately connected to a licensed attorney with knowledge about PFAS and PFAS litigation. We will listen to your concerns, answer your questions, review your records, and provide you with a complete case evaluation. After you become a client of Jacobson Injury Lawyers, our team will dig deep and build your PFAS case. This means understanding specific PFAS contamination data, medical records, and the circumstances that caused you to be injured by PFAS. And during the course of representation, you can expect an attorney who will be available to answer your questions, prudently attend to your PFAS case, and fight for the maximum amount of compensation.

Call Jacobson Injury Lawyers Today to Discuss Your PFAS Claim

There is never a fee for a PFAS attorney consultation. And Jacobson Injury Lawyers only works on a contingency fee basis. This means that you will not pay fees or expenses unless and until you win or settle your case. If you think you have suffered health issues as a result of exposure to PFAS, we are here to discuss your options. To schedule a free consultation, call or email us today.