Australians generally expect that when companies sell a product not only will it work but also it won’t harm them.
And that when there’s a problem, there will be laws and regulations that will hold wrongdoers to account.
3M Global Headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota.Credit: Bloomberg
While there is a law protecting consumer rights when a product doesn’t work, it will surprise many that it is not illegal to sell unsafe goods in Australia.
This is particularly alarming in the wake of a Herald investigation and a newly released Stan documentary, How to Poison a Planet, which exposes a story of contamination, cancer, cover-ups and corporate malfeasance in the emerging health and environmental scandal of forever chemicals, or PFAS.
It shows how ubiquitous products containing PFAS have become – in everything from contact lenses to coffee cups, mobile phones and frying pans – with their industrial applications centering on the chemical’s ability to repel water.
The documentary and our investigation revealed that hundreds of products in Australian homes are contaminated with chemicals that never break down in the environment and are now in the bloodstream of 98 per cent of the world’s population. An emerging body of evidence shows that the chemicals cause alarming health impacts.
It also exposes how the creator of the PFAS family of chemicals, the billion-dollar Wall Street giant 3M, has known the health risks for decades.
As the impact of exposure to the products became clear, it was the revelation of the lack of consumer protection that startled our investigative reporter, Carrie Fellner.
New consumer laws needed to protect us from forever chemicals
14
1
29.04.2024
Australians generally expect that when companies sell a product not only will it work but also it won’t harm them.
And that when there’s a problem, there will be laws and regulations that will hold wrongdoers to account.
3M Global Headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota.Credit: Bloomberg
While there is a law protecting consumer rights when a product doesn’t work, it will surprise many that it is not........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Rachel Marsden
Donald Low
Bradley Blankenship
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
Abbas Juma
Michael Kwet
