PFAS Risk: The Lawsuit Surge Industries Can’t Ignore
PFAS, known as "forever chemicals,” have been around since the mid-20th century. They made nonstick pans glide, fabrics resist stains, and firefighting foam highly effective. But there’s a catch: PFAS don’t break down in the environment. Over decades, they’ve seeped into water, soil, and even human bloodstreams, raising alarms about health and environmental risks.
For a long time, companies operated in a regulatory gray area. Scientists kept sounding the alarm, states tried to patch together their own rules, and at the federal level, there was little binding action. That’s changed dramatically over the past two years.
The Regulatory Turning Point
In 2024, the EPAfinalized the first-ever national drinking water standards for PFAS. The limits are strikingly strict — just 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS (with additional limits for other PFAS and mixtures pending review). To put that in perspective, we’re talking about detecting something in a body of water that’s equivalent to one drop in five Olympic-sized swimming pools. At the same time, the EPA designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under Superfund law (CERCLA), a move that opened the door to much broader liability for cleanup and site contamination.
In the past 12months, individual states have swiftly enacted more regulations focusing on PFAS restrictions across products, especially food packaging, firefighting foams, cookware and personal care items, in addition to the regulations about drinking water.
These decisions —enforceable limits and Superfund status — reshaped the playing field overnight. PFAS regulation is no longer advisory. It’s binding, enforceable, and very expensive if you fall out of compliance and don’t manage PFAS risk.
Why the Lawsuits Are Piling Up
With regulations in place, litigation has accelerated. Water utilities and municipalities now have the legal backing to recover the massive costs of testing and treatment. In 2024 alone, 3M agreed to a settlement worth up to $10.3 billion to help public water systems deal with contamination in 2024, while DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached a $2 billion settlement with New Jersey for PFAS cleanup. Meanwhile, the firefighting foam (AFFF) litigation continues to expand, now one of the largest mass torts in U.S. history, with tens of thousands of cases filed.
The trend is clear: once billion-dollar settlements made headlines, lawsuits surged. And with the EPA’s rules finalized, the cases are expected to keep coming.
The Ripple Effects
This wave of PFAS litigation isn’t confined to chemical manufacturers. Water utilities are installing costly treatment systems and passing bills upstream. Manufacturers are combing through supply chains to uncover hidden PFAS risks in coatings, membranes, and textiles. Consumer goods brands such as L’OREAL, P&G and W.L.Gore have also been brought under spotlight by the PFAS lawsuits they are or were involved in recently. Real estate developers and lenders are adding PFAS to their environmental due diligence, treating it with the same seriousness as asbestos or lead. And insurers are bracing for claims that stretch across industries.
Put simply: PFAS risk is no longer niche. It’s mainstream, and it touches nearly every corner of the economy.
Why Acting Early Matters
Organizations that act now, mapping potential PFAS exposure, testing proactively, and preparing for disclosure, will be far better positioned than those waiting for the next lawsuit or regulatory notice. Proactivity means turning raw sampling data and supplier disclosures into actionable insights before PFAS becomes a crisis in your world.
That’s exactly why we build EcoPulse. With EcoPulse, PFAS AI can efficiently analyze PFAS risk at scale to help with internal due diligence of PFAS presence and quantity across materials and supply chain. It connects the dots across SDS, product data, supplier information, research findings and regulatory targets to give you a real-time, decision-ready view of your PFAS risk and exposure map.