
Post-it maker 3M faces Belgian trial over 'forever' chemicals
The Peninsula
Brussels, Belgium: Hundreds of Belgians living near a 3M plant have sued the US multinational maker of Post it and Scotch tape over pollution from so...
Brussels, Belgium: Hundreds of Belgians living near a 3M plant have sued the US multinational maker of Post-it and Scotch tape over pollution from so-called "forever chemicals" in a trial that opens on Tuesday.
The residents are demanding almost 30 million euros ($35 million) in total in potential damages in the latest in a series of legal cases worldwide centring on the harm caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Abnormal levels of groundwater and soil pollution were detected near a 3M site in Zwijndrecht, outside the port city of Antwerp, in 2021.
A blood-sampling campaign later confirmed that hundreds of people living nearby had been exposed to very high concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), a member of the PFAS family used as a waterproofing agent.
3M said it has not produced PFAS at the plant inaugurated in the 1970s since 2024 and has launched a soil remediation operation in the area.













