Mississippi River toxic chemical probe widens

The search for perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) will span the entire Upper Mississippi River Basin this summer. Four states besides Minnesota will test for PFCs in the Mississippi River. The states will sample the upper rivers length from the headwaters near Bemidji to the southern tip of Illinois. The states are collaborating on the project with the US Environmental Protection Agency.

One of the best-known products that used PFCs was Scotchgard™, manufactured by 3M. Minnesota has already tested sections of the Mississippi for PFCs. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has found higher levels of the chemicals in the Twin Cities area near former disposal sites and downstream from 3Ms Cottage Grove manufacturing plant.

The agency also found a high reading last summer in an area far away from any known PFC manufacturing activity. Followup work revealed that the chemicals were coming from a metal plating business legally using a product containing PFCs.The business, which did not know it was releasing PFCs into wastewater that eventually reached the river, soon switched to a different product.

Search for PFC contamination in Mississippi River expands — Minnesota Public Radio, 23 April 2008