| What is PFOS? Short for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, PFOS belongs to a group of man-made compounds called fluorochemicals. The chemicals are “astonishingly versatile, in part because they resist oil, water, and heat,” Lerner writes, and “incredibly long-lasting.” Scientists are still struggling to grasp all the biological consequences of PFOS in the body. They have learned that the chemical enters our cells and organs, where even tiny amounts can cause stress and interfere with basic biological functions. In April, the E.P.A. deemed PFOS a hazardous substance under the Superfund law, noting that it is “likely to cause cancer.” What did 3M know about PFOS and the human body? In the mid-nineties, a chemist named Kris Hansen led a team that confirmed, through painstaking testing of blood samples from more than a dozen blood banks in various states, that PFOS could be found in bodies beyond 3M factory workers. The only blood she could find that did not contain the chemical was from samples that had been collected in a remote area or before 3M created PFOS. But, as Lerner discovers, Hansen was not the first at 3M to make this revelation. How did Sharon Lerner find this story? In October, 2022, after Hansen had been at 3M for twenty-six years, her job was eliminated. Three months later, Lerner received an e-mail from her, “offering to speak about what she had witnessed inside the company.” When Lerner asked Hansen why she hadn’t been more skeptical of 3M as the company dismissed her worries, she replied, “It almost would have been too much to bear at the time.” Read the article to learn what secrets 3M scientists kept and how Lerner unravelled the story. | 
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