3M, DuPont defeat massive class action over forever chemicals

By Clark Mindock

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Monday handed 3M, Corteva Inc subsidiary E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co and other manufactures of toxic so-called "forever chemicals" a big win in their fight against legal liability for the substances, rejecting a lower court's ruling that would have allowed about 11.8 million Ohio residents to sue the companies as a group.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court's approval of the massive class action, which included virtually every resident of Ohio and put considerable legal pressure on the chemical manufacturers to settle the plaintiffs' claims.

The court found that lead plaintiff Kevin Hardwick filed too broad a complaint against the manufacturers, and had not shown per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, found in his body could be traced directly to defendants such as units of 3M, DuPont and others.

The appeals court instructed the lower court to dismiss Hardwick's lawsuit, which had aimed to force the companies to pay for studies analyzing the health impacts of PFAS. The chemicals are used in a wide range of consumer products including non-stick pans and clothing and have been tied to cancer and other diseases.

The lawsuit also sought to establish a fund to monitor Ohio residents for health impacts from PFAS exposure.

Representatives for the defendants and for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The chemicals are often referred to as forever chemicals because they do not easily break down in nature or in the human body.

(Reporting by Clark Mindock, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Lincoln Feast.)