PFAS Contamination, The Carpet Industry’s Legacy

What are PFAS, and why are they called “forever chemicals”?

PFAS stands for polyfluoroalkyl substances. In the program, they are described as chemicals that “take decades or more to break down.”

A researcher explains why they can linger in the body: “Once they get into people, they actually bind to albumin, which is a protein that’s in your blood… so it’s not eliminated like a lot of chemicals are.” Another line in the program states: “Once they get into people, their body levels stay high for three to 15 years.”

The narration also notes scale and uncertainty: there are “an estimated 15,000 varieties of PFAS,” and “little is known about the health effects of most of them.”

How did the carpet industry become part of the PFAS story?

PFAS were prized for stain resistance. The program links that value to carpet manufacturing: “The PFAS was in these chemicals that provide stain resistance.”

One major product named is 3M’s Scotchgard. The reporting says PFAS became “intertwined with carpet manufacture on a deep level since the 1970s and into the ’80s and beyond.”

The program says it was not until the late 1990s that 3M began informing the carpet industry that the type of PFAS used in Scotchgard “might accumulate in people’s bodies.” In deposition records, reporters found accounts of meetings between 3M and the two main carpet companies in Northwest Georgia, Shaw and Mohawk.

A key moment appears in notes from a 3M employee about a January 1999 meeting with Shaw: a Shaw executive worried about lawsuits and said, “He felt plaintiffs’ attorneys would be involved immediately.”

In contrast, notes from that same day describe Mohawk’s posture: “No real sense of Mohawk problem/ responsibility,” and, “If it’s good enough for 3M, it’s good enough for Mohwak.”

Later, after 3M and the EPA announced a phaseout tied to “concerns about a chemical used in their production,” the program recounts a confrontation at Shaw. It says Bob Shaw, CEO of Shaw Industries, picked up a carpet square and said, “This isn’t a logo, this is a target.” The account continues with him asking, “And I got 15 million of these out in the marketplace. What am I supposed to do about that?”

The program says carpet companies stopped using PFAS in U.S. production in 2019. It also says 3M “discontinued making products with any kind of PFAS in 2025.”

What did regulators do, and why did it take so long?

A former EPA official, Betsy Southerland, ties slow action to the old law. She says the Toxic Substances Control Act at the time was “very weak,” and that “All the onus was on E.P.A. to prove that there was an existing chemical causing a problem before they could take action.”

She also says the agency still faces long timelines: “Even today… the agency has to go through a seven-year process before it can actually impose a ban or restrictions.” Asked if industry can keep using chemicals during that period, she answers: “Absolutely, yes.”

The program states that in 2024 the EPA issued drinking water regulations for some PFAS compounds, but “they don’t take effect until 2031.”

How far did the contamination spread, and who is affected?

A state environmental official describes the downstream footprint: “Downstream of Dalton and into Alabama, we’ve estimated that there’s approximately hundreds of thousands, 200-plus thousand people who get their drinking water from the surface waters that originate with the Conasauga River.”

The program also highlights a 2008 University of Georgia study that found PFAS levels in one river were “among the highest ever recorded in surface water.”

The reporting describes a regional network of creeks and rivers that support recreation and supply drinking water. A local environmental leader says it is “not a badge of honor to be known for some of the most contaminated surface water in the country,” and warns the region will be busy for years trying “to maintain healthy drinking water systems” and “remediate the environment where we know we have contaminated soil and groundwater.”

What do residents say about health concerns?

The program says research has linked high levels of some PFAS to “cancers, immune disorders, and diseases of the liver and thyroid,” while also stressing it is “difficult to definitively connect people’s specific illnesses to the chemicals.”

One resident, 34 years old, says she has been diagnosed with “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.” She describes daily strain: “It’s something that affects you from the second you wake up to the second you go to bed.”

Environmental health researcher Dana Barr says she tested the blood of “almost 200 residents” in the region. She reports: “24% of them had levels that were above that… level of, of high risk of health outcomes, and, and 74% were in that moderate-risk area.”

A participant named Dolly Baker says her result was extreme: “Mine was over 1,300. High is 20, and the next-highest one below me was 200-something.” She describes the feeling as being “trapped.”

Another participant, Lisa Martin, says she worked 20 years at Mohawk. She says her health declined, and that she “ended up having autoimmune disease, had to have my thyroid removed.” She says workers “did not” have “a clue” about risks. She adds, “I did not understand the, the PFAS element to the degree that I do now.”

What role did Dalton Utilities and the land application system play?

The program describes Dalton Utilities as both the drinking water provider and the wastewater treater for mills. It says “80, 85%” of the wastewater it takes in “comes from the carpet industry,” and that carpet executives and former executives have historically made up part of its board. Dalton Utilities disputes influence in a statement, according to the narration.

The program says the utility’s treatment process “cannot screen out PFAS chemicals.” It describes a long-running practice: filtering some contaminants and then spraying treated wastewater “over thousands of acres” through a land application system.

An inspector, Scott Gordon, describes seeing sprinkler heads with carpet fibers “like it had a wig on top,” and says walking there “felt like you were walking on shag carpet.” He also alleges seeing wastewater flowing into creeks and then the river, and says the system discharged “between 20 and 25 million gallons a day” onto the land application system.

A lawsuit expert is cited as saying the land application system could be “a perpetual source of contamination for a hundred years, at least.”

What happened in Gadsden, Alabama?

The program says that in early 2016, state officials sent a memo expressing concern about PFAS levels in eight water systems, including Gadsden, which draws from the Coosa River. It says Gadsden sued chemical manufacturers and carpet companies within months, and that it was the first time a carpet maker had been sued over its role in PFAS contamination.

The program says six other Alabama drinking water systems later sued. It also reports that Gadsden’s lawsuit ended in 2022 with a confidential settlement.

Gadsden has worked to reduce PFAS using carbon filtration and has broken ground on a new treatment plant “set to open in 2027.”

The narration states: “In 2025, on average, Gadsden’s water contained more than twice the E.P.A.’s recommended level of the two key PFAS compounds that had historically been used by the carpet industry.”

A water authority official, Chad Hare, says the system shares sampling and monitoring publicly and that their responsibility is to meet regulations. The program adds that Alabama had no enforceable limits tied to EPA guidance at the time described, because the guidelines were not enforceable.

Who is being held accountable?

The program calls accountability a “finger-pointing game between the chemical industry, the carpet industry, and others.”

Carpet companies say chemical makers obscured risks and assured them products were safe. Mohawk says it complied with wastewater regulations and was not aware of direct PFAS discharge. Dalton Utilities is suing carpet and chemical companies. Communities say they cannot fix the scale alone.

Georgia politics also appear in the program. State legislator Kasey Carpenter, who represents Dalton, sought a bill that would limit lawsuits against the carpet industry. He argues litigation should focus on chemical manufacturers, saying, “I see PFAS as being the next, uh, asbestos for, for the United States.”

Why this matters now

Residents describe fear, anger, and betrayal. Local systems face costly treatment needs. Regulators face slow processes. The contamination spreads across watersheds and state lines.

A leader in the program frames the timeline: “We’re in an ultramarathon— this is not a sprint.”

Reverse osmosis and conditioners solve PFAS problem at your sink

PFAS concerns often start at the tap. A point-of-use reverse osmosis system can reduce many dissolved contaminants in drinking and cooking water, which can matter when people rely on surface-water systems affected by upstream pollution. A whole-home water conditioner does not target PFAS on its own, but it can improve overall water feel and reduce scale so plumbing and appliances run better while a home uses separate PFAS-focused treatment for drinking water.

Source: Frontline PBS on Youtube