Award-winning documentary How to Poison a Planet, featuring Mark Ruffalo, exposes the chemical industry’s long standing knowledge of the danger of “forever chemicals” and reveals the human cost in communities around the world.

The groundbreaking documentary How to Poison a Planet debuts previously unseen sworn testimony from 3M scientists and employees discussing what the company knew about PFAS danger for decades. Due to PFAS chemicals’ inability to break down naturally, these man-made ‘forever chemicals’ now contaminate the waterways, farmland and communities around the world, including the drinking water of 200 million Americans.

The film features Oscar nominated actor and activist Mark Ruffalo and environmental lawyers. Mark Ruffalo says: “This documentary exposes one of the biggest environmental disasters in human history. Without a concerted effort from all levels of business and government, ongoing contamination will continue to endanger the environment and our health.”

The Trial of the Decade

The documentary provides behind-the-scenes access to one of the largest environmental lawsuits in U.S. history. It follows the legal team putting together the case as they prepare to represent communities affected by PFAS contamination from firefighting foam.

Gary Douglas of Douglas & London underscores the magnitude of the crisis, stating: If you wanted to deliberately contaminate the planet with PFAS, you couldn’t have invented a better delivery device than firefighting foam… And just let it leach into the aquifers, into people’s drinking water, and do nothing to clean it up.”

3M settled the lawsuit for up to $12.5 billion in mid-2023, just days before the trial was set to begin. The film draws on unsealed materials gathered as part of the lawsuit, including never-before-seen depositions and documents detailing what 3M knew about their products’ toxicity, and when they knew it.

Ned McWilliams of Levin Papantonio conveys that at the trial, the litigation team planned to reveal that 3M was aware their proprietary, man-made chemicals had found their way into the blood of literally everyone on the planet. “Rather than disclose this important matter of public health, 3M engaged in a decades-long campaign of deceit and cover-up,” McWilliams says.

The term ‘PFAS,’ or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, refers to a group of more than 14,000 chemicals synthesized from the 1930s onward by 3M and produced for use in heat-, oil-, and water-resistant materials. These chemicals gained global notoriety due to environmental attorney Rob Bilott, whose story inspired the New York Times article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” and the feature film Dark Waters, starring Ruffalo.

“A lot of the information that has come out over the years has focused on what DuPont knew about these chemicals, and how DuPont had covered up information about the health threat here. Until now, there hasn’t been as much information available about what 3M knew about these chemicals. This is the company that actually created these at the beginning,” explains Rob Bilott, partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.  

Douglas, McWilliams, Bilott, Wes Bowden and Rebecca Newman worked together for over a decade to hold both DuPont and 3M accountable for the damage caused by PFAS forever chemicals.

Communities Devastated by PFAS Call for Greater Awareness of Health Risks 

PFAS chemicals have been linked to serious health effects such as cancers, reproductive issues and impacts on the immune system. 

The documentary illustrates the human impact of PFAS contamination in stories from the First Nations community of Wreck Bay, Australia, and Oakdale, in suburban Minneapolis, both of which have been devastated by health concerns linked to PFAS contamination.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced new national limits for PFAS in drinking water; however, only six of the 14,000 chemicals are addressed. There are currently calls to ban the entire class all across the world and further scrutinize how they enter our drinking water, food chain and fertilizers. Although the future direction of efforts at the federal level in the United States may be unclear, multiple initiatives at the state level are being considered around the country.

Internationally, this documentary has helped ignite a Senate Inquiry into PFAS contamination in Australia and has been screened at the French Senate in Paris. 

More about the documentary

Directed by Katrina McGowan and produced by Janine Hosking, Katrina McGowan, and Mat Cornwell, ‘How to Poison a Planet’ has already garnered critical acclaim. The film won the Documentary Award at Australia’s prestigious Walkley Awards. 

‘How To Poison A Planet’ is an iKandy Films and Stan Originals production with support from Shark Island Foundation, Screen Australia and Screen NSW. Executive produced by Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie for Stan. 

The film made its international premiere in New York City and is now available in the United States. For more information on how to see the film go to: www.howtopoisonaplanet.com