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Articles Posted in Toxic Chemicals

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water-6533726_640-e1752356897649Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, also known as forever chemicals) are used in many different consumer products. They are found in around 45% of the United States’s drinking water supplies. The chemicals are slow to break down and have been linked to medical problems in the past. Earlier this year, the Keck School of Medicine at USC published a study in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology that showed communities that are exposed to drinking water contaminated by PFAS suffer a 33% higher incidence of specific cancers. These cancers are kidney cancer, testicular cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, thyroid disease, and ulcerative colitis. If you were diagnosed with cancer and believe it’s related to PFAS drinking water contamination, please call the seasoned Chicago-based lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases with which we’ve been involved. We represent plaintiffs across the country.

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The study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC is the first to look at cancer and PFAS-contaminated drinking water. It’s an ecological study that deploys large population-level datasets to find patterns of exposure and related risks. They compared two datasets, one related to all cancer cases reported between 2016-2021 and the other covering data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Program on PFAS in drinking water around the United States.

Between 2016-2021, the study found, counties with PFAS-contaminated drinking water had higher incidence of specific cancers—the PFAS-contaminated drinking water is estimated to be involved in 6800 cancer cases every year. There are differences in cancer incidence between the sexes. Males in counties with contaminated water had higher rates of leukemia, urinary system cancers, and brain and soft tissue cancers than males who lived in counties with uncontaminated water. Females had higher rates of thyroid, mouth, throat and soft tissue cancers. Other factors that can influence risk of cancer were controlled for at different levels as well, including age, urbanicity, socioeconomic status, smoking rates, and prevalence of obesity.

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science-5314419_1280-e1718065686874-300x200Recently, the New Yorker ran a very important piece, reported by investigative journalist Sharon Lerner, in collaboration with ProPublica, with the headline “How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed the Dangers of Forever Chemicals.” 3M Corporation makes products like building materials and adhesives. The article tells the story of Kris Hansen, a chemist at 3M, who was asked by her boss, Jim Johnson, to test human blood to see if it had been contaminated with fluorochemicals, manmade compounds that are found in a number of 3M products including Scotchgard and firefighting foam. Unbeknownst to Hansen, Johnson had made several discoveries about the contaminants years before in some cases, he’d been directed to do the work by 3M’s lawyers.

Call Chicago-Based Attorneys of Moll Law Group If Forever Chemicals Harmed You

At that time, Johnson told Hansen that PFOS, one of these fluorochemicals, often entered the bloodstream of workers in the 3M factory but didn’t harm them. However, Johnson had also been told that an outside lab kept finding contaminants in blood samples from the American Red Cross, taken from the general population who shouldn’t have had those contaminants present.

Hansen’s job then was to figure out whether the lab had erred in its findings. In testing, she, too, found that PFOS was in the sample, which was from someone who hadn’t worked for the company; the other samples she and her team tested were also contaminated. She told her boss, but subsequently found that her warnings about the contamination were left out of official meeting notes.

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dam-5422929_1280-e1712683251596A federal court recently approved a $1.185 billion settlement concerning drinking water that had been contaminated by forever chemicals in PFAS-containing firefighting foam. The court dismissed objections from three cities and a municipal water district court. If you were injured or a loved one died due to polluted drinking water, you should consult the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases we’ve handled; we represent plaintiffs around the country.

Talk to Lawyers from Moll Law Group About Your PFAS Claim

More than 300 lawsuits related to the contamination of the environment due to the PFAS in firefighting foams have been instituted since 2018. Many cases involving PFAS involve claims by numerous individuals that allege personal harm as a result of forever chemicals. However this particular settlement involved municipal water systems that are facing substantial testing and remediation due to the PFAS in their water.

Consequently, the settlement was reached only in lawsuits that named all public water systems in the country that receive water from at least one source that tested positive for PFAS, along with any public water systems that the law requires to test for PFAS. A number of these lawsuits were consolidated in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) based in South Carolina, with a deal announced in June 2023 and receiving preliminary approval in August 2023.

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barbed-wire-gd3ed47b8d_640-e1660261720964President Biden has signed the historic Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which affects those who lived on Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps Base on the Atlantic coast. Water contamination at the base was pervasive. Numerous damaging volatile organic compounds, including benzene, tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene, have been found in the water Marines and others used to drink, bathe in, and cook with. The fight for justice for those harmed by the water has spanned more than 25 years. Veterans and their families and staff exposed to toxic chemicals while at Camp Lejeune can now recover new benefits for the harm they suffered. They will be able to file lawsuits for damages and injuries. If you were harmed by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, you should call the experienced toxic tort lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in product liability and toxic tort cases with which we’ve been involved.

Call Moll Law Group About Your Camp Lejeune Claim

As we’ve previously written, more than one million people have suffered from exposure to toxic chemicals in the water supply at Camp Lejeune. President Biden’s signature on the historic bill may provide redress to those who suffered cancer, birth defects, Parkinson’s, and other severe medical conditions. The symptoms of these different illnesses vary; symptoms of leukemia, for instance, include fever, weight loss, easy bleeding, and easy bruising.

Democrat Mark Takano introduced the Honoring Our PACT Act last year with a broad range of input from stakeholders and lawmakers. The Act makes eligible for medical care, mental health services, and counseling those veterans that participated in a toxic exposure risk activity, served in particular locations, or were deployed in support of specific contingency operations. The Act enormously improves governmental action toward veterans, their families, and staff members at Camp Lejeune who suffered toxic chemical exposures from the water.

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unnamed-300x265On August 2, 2022, the Senate passed the long-sought PACT Act. The passage of such bill marks the end of a persistent fight to get the law passed through Congress. This legislation had been held up in the chamber after opposition from more than a dozen Republicans. After extensive backlash from veterans and veterans’ groups, the final vote was 86-11 and sent to President Joe Biden to sign into law.

Talk to Moll Law Group About Whether You Have a Claim

The PACT Act will expand health care benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service. The bill will also include the highly anticipated Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act addresses the water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. It is important to note that this action will only be available for individuals exposed to the contaminated water for at least thirty (30) days. Individuals who have sustained injuries due to their exposure will finally be able to file suit for monetary compensation.

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america-gbcda51e3a_640Camp Lejeune is a military training facility for the United States Marine Corps. Water treatment facilities that supplied water to Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base were contaminated. The volatile organic compounds dumped there from 1957 – 1987 may have caused serious injuries to Marines, Sailors, and their families on the base. Civilian employees may have been affected, too. Recently, a change in the law allows those living on the base and injured by the water to pursue financial compensation from the federal government. If you were harmed by toxic water at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base you should discuss your situation with the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group. You may be entitled to compensatory damages including medical expenses, lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and more.

Call Moll Law Group About a Camp Lejeune Claim

In June, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 was passed. The bill was passed after investigators discovered that water supplies at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune were contaminated with toxins between 1953 – 1987. The result was many different serious injuries including cancer, birth defects, miscarriage, and neurological defects like ALS or Parkinson’s. The Lejeune Justice Act permits military personnel and their families to pursue a claim within two years. If you lived or worked at Camp Lejeune between August 1953 – December 1987 and you suffer a serious injury like cancer or your baby suffered birth defects, you may be able to recover compensation for those injuries under the Act. The law is part of broader legislation that seeks to redress the problems of veterans exposed to toxic materials during service.

According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, two toxic chemicals contaminated the Hadnot Point Treatment Plant and the Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant. The former plant was contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE), which is a volatile anesthetic. The sources of TCE contamination include underground storage tank leaks, water disposal sites, and industrial area spills. Percholoroethylene (PCE), which is often used for dry cleaning, was found in highly damaging quantities in the Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant, arriving there because of an off-base dry cleaning company’s disposal practices. Other toxins found in drinking water include benzene and vinyl chloride.

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There are countless chemicals with which we come into contact in our daily lives. While some of these are open and obvious, like hand soap, others are more difficult to identify. California’s Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, prevents businesses from exposing consumers to chemicals that are “known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity” through drinking water. They are also prohibited from exposing consumers to these chemicals without providing warnings on the product that meet a “clear and reasonable” standard.

Recently, the agency tasked with enforcing Prop 65, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), announced that it intended to list glyphosate as a chemical subject to Prop 65’s warnings. Glyphosate is sold under the brand name Roundup for household use and used as a common pesticide in agriculture.

The agency based its decision on a report produced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in March 2015. The report concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” IARC uses this designation for chemicals when there is inadequate or limited research demonstrating that the product causes cancer in humans, but there is enough evidence to show that the chemical causes cancer in animals.

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In a recently filed lawsuit, Williams v. Deterex Corporation, the plaintiff alleges that her husband lost his life as a result of a company’s failure to appropriately label a load of hydrogen sulfide as hazardous. On April 26, 2016, the decedent was transporting a load of materials for the defendant chemical company to another location. After he offloaded the cargo, the decedent commenced the standard procedure used to wash out the truck’s tank. He was wearing protective gear at this time. While the tank wash was occurring, the decedent was exposed to fumes from the hazardous chemical that remained in the tank. On the following day, the decedent passed away.

Several state and federal regulations govern the safe handling of waste and hazardous waste materials. One rule, for example, requires trucks transporting such materials to carry a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest. The load that the decedent transported on April 26 was accompanied by a manifest. It stated, however, that the load was “non-hazardous, non D.O.T. regulated material” and identified the contents as “sulfate water/solids.” Also attached to the manifest was a laboratory analysis that allegedly verified the waste profile of the load. The analysis was conducted by U.S. Ecology on February 1, 2016, and it expired on March 10, 2016.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning a ban on a chemical that is commonly used in dry cleaning services, due to its serious impact on liver health and neurological function. The chemical, trichloroethylene (TCE), has been associated with serious risks to consumers and workers. A 2014 assessment concluded that the chemical can lead to a wide array of health effects, including cancer, the development of neurotoxicological effects, and liver toxicity.

TCE is a chemical that is mostly used as a solvent. It has a pleasant, sweet smell, although it can be inhaled without any odor associated with it. The vapors can also be absorbed through skin contact. In most cases, TCE is used in commercial or manufacturing facilities. It is sold through industrial supply channels as a degreaser or refrigerant chemical.

The EPA is proposing to prohibit the manufacture of the chemical, as well as its use in processing plants and distribution centers that use TCE in aerosol degreasing applications or spot use cleaning applications in dry cleaning facilities. The federal agency is also proposing a requirement that would force manufacturers, processors, and distribution centers to provide notice to retailers and other businesses and individuals in their supply chains of the agency’s new prohibitions. Because of its highly hazardous nature, the EPA plans to evaluate the potential health consequences associated with TCE in its other uses and applications.

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After a year of consideration, California’s Office of Health Hazard Assessment (OHHA) has issued a final regulation for its “Safe Harbor” warning provision regarding Proposition 65. This new provision is designed to give consumers additional information regarding the contents of the products sold in California, particularly when it comes to potentially dangerous chemicals. The new regulation will go into effect on August 30, 2018, giving companies time to comply.

Between now and the date that the new provision takes effect, manufacturers can continue to print labels with existing warning language, as authorized by Proposition 65. This language will be deemed compliant even if the product is sold after the August 30, 2018 date, as long as the product was manufactured before then.

As another option, manufacturers can use the new warning label language immediately and avoid any issues with non-compliance following August 30, 2018. Also, the regulation states that any court order or final judgment approving specific language for a warning label will still be subject to that court order or judgment in lieu of the new label requirement.

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