The Dark PFAS Hypothesis

After my environmental research and whistle blowing in the Antwerp (Belgium) PFAS case in 2021, as reported in Bloomberg's Businessweek, a large number of unsolved questions remained. One of the largest mysteries was that of the ultrashort PFAS: Why were these substances not present in any environmental permit or official monitoring report? Why did they only show up in some extremely rare internal lab reports from 3M and why did they have such high concentrations?

This question led to a year long research into a simple question: Could it be the case that the fluorination industry was still keeping critical information from the public regarding their products? Based on the methodology used by Nadia Gaber, Lisa Bero and Tracey J. Woodruff in their recent paper The Devil they Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science and the earlier book Bending Science: How special interests corrupt public health research by Thomas O. McGarity and Wendy E. Wagner, an extensive investigation was conducted into potential signs of “Science Bending” that may have still escaped the public's view.

Remarkably, the resulting story first takes us to a preceding episode, the infamous “hole in the ozone layer” issue, where chapter 4 of Merchants Of Doubt - How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smole to global warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway could be read as the perfect introduction to this paper. Even more remarkable, a harrowing link is discovered between ultrashort PFAS and the Erin Brockovich story.

It should be noted that research into the (improper) influencing of the scientific debate and regulation cannot be conducted without naming researchers and organisations involved. This however does not mean all researchers named in this overview necessarily worked from bad intentions, nor does it imply that every employee of the named organisation is involved or even aware of these issues. As best as possible, focus was kept on (potentially) hidden scientific knowledge, rather than trying to ascertain individual intentions.

As is quite clear from the paper itself, the sheer amount of documentation and technical nature of the issues involved obviously require more time, expertise and resources than were available to me. More than anything, this paper is therefor an invitation to look beyond what the industry wants us to see.

Download the research paper here:

The Dark PFAS Hypothesis (current version: 2023-09-19)