"And on a massive scale: The shrewd CEO built Shaw Industries from a family firm in Dalton, Georgia, into a globally dominant carpet maker worth billions. I got 15 million of these out in the marketplace, Shaw told his 3M visitors. What am I supposed to do about that? A 3M executive replied that he didn't know. Shaw threw the sample at him and left the room."
"Carpet makers kept using closely related chemical alternatives for years, even after scientific studies and regulators warned of their accumulation in human blood and possible health effects. Customers expected stain resistance; nothing worked better than the family of chemicals known as PFAS. A lack of state and federal regulations allowed carpet companies and their suppliers to legally switch among different versions of these stain-and-soil resistant products."
Executives at a major carpet maker confronted 3M after the company announced reformulation of Scotchgard, a stain-resistant product. Shaw Industries had used Scotchgard for decades, releasing its chemical ingredients into the environment at scale. Carpet manufacturers continued using closely related PFAS alternatives for years despite studies and regulatory warnings about accumulation in human blood and potential health effects. Consumer demand for stain resistance kept demand high because PFAS were uniquely effective. Weak state and federal rules enabled legal substitution among related chemistries. The local water utility in Dalton held private meetings with carpet executives that limited external oversight while contaminated manufacturing wastewater flowed into the environment.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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