Story at a glance:
- “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” discussed “forever chemicals” that are commonly found in ordinary household products.
- The comedian exposed a lot of information on how “all corporations truly are people – specifically, sociopaths.”
- “Forever chemicals” can cause cancer, which has been well known for decades.
The latest episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” discussed “forever chemicals” commonly found in ordinary household products.
PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” because they accumulate over time and do not break down, are found in a broad range of everyday products like cookware, food packaging, cosmetics and other consumer goods, resulting in widespread exposure to humans and the environment.
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PFAS have been linked to cancer and other illnesses, such as high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, pregnancy-induced hypertension, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer and decreased response to vaccines.
In the latest episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver details how 3M began selling the chemical C8 to DuPont to make teflon for nonstick pans in the 1950s.
Oliver used his show to call out 3M for knowing decades ago that PFAS accumulated in humans and animals, that the chemicals did not degrade in the environment and could increase the size of the liver in rats, rabbits and dogs.
In 1981, 3M knew there were birth defects in rats after they ingested PFAS. Once DuPont was informed and the company tested children of employees in their Teflon division — two out of seven births had eye defects, but the company did not make it public.
3M in 1991 strongly advised DuPont against dumping PFAS into waterways, which the company ignored and eventually lost track of the amount it put into the environment.
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“Harmful chemicals are just not something you should lose track of,” Oliver said. “They’re not your car keys or your middle child,” the host quipped.
Despite the company developing a less toxic alternative to Teflon, DuPont objected to it, saying it did not want to risk its bottom line when profits were pulling in 1 billion worth of revenue each year, according to Oliver.
“Proving once and for all corporations truly are people – specifically, sociopaths,” Oliver said.
“And if you are wondering where the [Environmental Protection Agency] was in all this, you should know they were more than a little hamstrung here,” he continued.
Under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, the agency could only require testing for chemicals when it was provided evidence of potential wrongdoing — a set-up that “largely allows chemical companies to regulate themselves,” said Oliver, “which is an absolutely terrifying sequence of words, right up there with incoming FaceTime with Jeffrey Toobin.”
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