California is suing 18 companies over “staggering” damage caused by manufacturers of PFAS, substances also known as “forever chemicals.”

Some of these companies, including 3M, infamous for creating the chemical C8 for Scotchgard, and DuPont, which used C8 in nonstick Teflon products, were aware of dangerous chemicals’ “toxicity, persistence, and prevalence in humans but deliberately misled the government and the public” for decades, according to a lawsuit filed in the Alameda County Superior Court on Thursday (Nov. 10).