COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) – Ohioans interested in a class action lawsuit over what’s in their bloodstream should take note of a recent federal court decision.
Judge Edmund Sargus certified a class of citizens of Ohio, rejecting plaintiffs’ lawyers’ ambitious attempt to include just about all Americans in a class, on March 7. The case concerns chemicals known as PFAS, which are used in firefighting foam and were used in products like non-stick cookware.
PFAS do not leave the human body, leading to the nickname “forever chemicals.”
Sargus’ ruling certifies a class of Ohio citizens with at least 0.05 parts per trillion of PFAS in their blood. He turned down the chance to certify a nationwide class - “the most ambitious class imaginable,” as the defendants put it.
DuPont, 3M and others opposed nationwide class certification in the case, complaining the proposed class would include about 330 million people exposed to any of the 5,000 distinct chemicals in the PFAS family.
A research project set up by DuPont to settle Ohio and West Virginia contamination claims earlier this century showed probable links to six diseases, including kidney and testicular cancers, but the epidemiology used has been called less than conclusive.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a health advisory for water with 70 parts per trillion, but has not issued a formal maximum contaminant level.
States have, though, that are far below 70 ppt. Some of them have also hired private lawyers on contingency fees to sue 3M, DuPont and others.
Plaintiff Kevin Hardwick’s lawyers have asked the court for "the establishment of an independent panel of scientists" who would be "jointly selected by the parties" and funded by defendants. The panel would research alleged health effects of PFAS and report their findings, which would be "definitive and binding on all the parties," the original complaint said.
Hardwick, a firefighter, is represented by lawyers at Taft Stettinius in Columbus; Douglas and London in New York; and Levin Papantonio in Pensacola, Fla.
PFAS are still required by the government for firefighting foam on its military bases, despite litigation like the Hardwick class action and a federal multidistrict litigation proceeding in South Carolina.