The American industrial giant 3M announced, this Tuesday (20), that it will phase out the production of the so-called eternal chemical pollutants, the PFAS, used in everyday products, in the face of the tightening of regulations due to their harmful effects on health. .
The promise is to end, by the end of 2025, the manufacture of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, for its acronym in English) and to stop its use in the entire portfolio of products in the same period, informed the multinational, which is headquartered in St. . Paul, Minnesota.
Known for the long time it takes to decompose, and used in food packaging, kitchen utensils, coatings and electronic devices, PFAS have been manufactured since the 1940s. Studies have shown their presence in soil and water, as well as in humans, fish and other animals.
The researchers highlight the link between the accumulation of PFAS in the human body and a decreased response to vaccination, cases of cancer, diabetes or obesity, or even a change in liver function.
“While PFAS can be safely manufactured and used, we are seizing the occasion to take the initiative in the face of a rapidly changing economic and regulatory landscape,” said 3M CEO Mike Roman.
In recent years, 3M has reached several settlements to resolve lawsuits related to the effects of PFAS.
In July, in Belgium, it agreed with Flemish authorities the payment of 571 million euros (R$ 3.2 billion) for “corrective measures” to clean the soil and control possible dispersion of PFAS in the air from its factory in Zwijndrecht, near Antwerp. In October 2021, it agreed to pay $99 million (R$519 million) to communities near its factory in Decatur, Alabama.
3M’s PFAS-related revenues amount to $1.3 billion (R$6.8 billion) annually. The group expects exceptional costs of US$ 1.3 billion to US$ 2.3 billion (R$ 12 billion) to implement the announced measures, which will reduce its results in the same proportion until the end of 2025.
For this fourth quarter, the group foresees costs between US$ 700 million (R$ 3.7 billion) and US$ 1 billion (R$ 5.2 billion) mainly due to the deterioration of certain assets related to PFAS.
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