April 2003
In the Leach class action against DuPont, a West Virginia judge rules that PFOA is “toxic and hazardous to humans” and orders DuPont to pay for medical testing of up to 50,000 people.
2002
The Minnesota Department of Health develops Health-Based Values for PFOA and PFOS; the department also begins partnering with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to investigate PFAS in drinking water near the 3M Cottage Grove plant and related legacy waste disposal sites.
September 2002
The U.S. EPA begins reviewing data that links PFOA to health problems.
June 2002
3M chemists patent a fire fighting foam that does not contain PFOS or any other persistent ingredients.
January 2002
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection concludes that PFOA in drinking water presents “possible health risks to the public” and that PFOA “has been linked to possible health problems related to long-term exposure.”