3M, one of the leading producers of “forever chemicals,” PFAS, PFOS, and PFOA, assured its employees and the public that the compounds were safe for humans. It wasn’t true. In a joint investigation with The New Yorker, ProPublica’s Sharon Lerner revealed 3M’s decades-long knowledge of the dangers of the chemicals and their widespread presence in the bloodstreams of most, if not all, humans.
Lerner is a health and environmental investigative journalist who has reported extensively on forever chemicals since 2015. Her most recent investigation on these substances – “How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe” – won this year’s Bronze award in the Global/National category of the 2024 Barlett & Steele Awards.
Embracing complexity
When Kris Hansen, a former 3M employee, approached Lerner to share her story at the company, Lerner realized that she needed to not only dig deeper but to view the investigation from a different lens, one that required more nuance.
“When I did my earlier reporting on 3M, I had written a story that was headlined, ‘3M knew,’ and that was the way I had thought about it in my head. But, after I was contacted by Kris and even before that, it occurred to me that that way of thinking about it was way too simplistic because the company is made up of many, many people and only some of them knew,” Lerner said.
By shifting her view of 3M from a singular entity to one comprised of thousands of people with varying levels of knowledge regarding these substances, Lerner started to ask “much better questions … who knew, and what did they know, and what did they do with what they know?”
The human sources of this story were also complex. For decades, Hansen knew that forever chemicals produced by 3M had made it into the bloodstream of nearly all human beings. Jim Johnson, Hansen’s first boss at the company, also knew about the widespread prevalence of these chemicals in human bodies years before Hansen discovered it for herself.
“They both did things to contribute to forever chemical pollution … But they also both did things that contributed to that secret eventually getting out. So, it’s pretty complex, and I don’t think that there are any straightforward heroes in this story. And even if you’re thinking of those two people as villains, they’re not that either or not 100 percent.”
The power of perspective
Learning about Hansen’s experience propelled Lerner to delve into an investigation she thought she had completed. A new perspective evolved into an unexplored layer of the story. “I just thought, ‘Oh, her experience would allow a reader to connect with the enormity of the discovery of PFOS in blood.’”
Lerner herself was a character in the investigation. “I think that because I have reported on these [forever chemicals] for so long, it felt important to insert my point of view as distinct from those of the other characters in the piece,” she said.
Lerner and her editors discussed this approach at length. Instead of shying away from the viewpoint Lerner brought to the story as a reporter, they decided to weave it into the writing. The result was a character-driven, first-person narrative that showcased the nuance of corporate giants, the humans who work for them, and the secrets they keep.
“These are complex organizations made up of complex individuals, and I ended up feeling both that it was important to think about how secrets get kept inside companies, but also how secrets get kept inside individuals,” Lerner said. “And that ended up being a big part of this story for me, trying to understand how these two particular people lived with the knowledge that they had, how it affected their lives and, of course, all the rest of our lives, too.”
Keeping corporations accountable
Lerner has seen firsthand how much power and influence businesses have over the environment and public health.
“So much of our exposure to the chemicals really lies in the hands of businesses and the decisions they make,” Lerner said. “As an environmental reporter, I spend a lot of time writing about regulation, and that work has shown me how limited the ability of regulators is to rein in chemicals, particularly these kinds of chemicals.”
If the government isn’t keeping corporations accountable regarding their widespread environmental and health impact, then who will? Investigative business reporting like Lerner’s helps fill this oversight gap.
“When we’re talking about ethics and business and the right or wrong of withholding reports, let’s say of toxicity, and then you think about, what is the impact of that? Well, it’s literally changing life on earth. It changes the bodily chemistry of most creatures that the decisions [companies] made over decades ended up having planetary consequences.”
The reach
Of all her reporting on forever chemicals, Lerner is especially proud of the depth of understanding this investigation has provided to readers. “[The story] was able to … explain the enormity of the issue.”
A great example of the investigation resonating deeply with a reader came from Lerner’s own social circle. “A good friend, who’s a lawyer who’s been working on these [forever chemical] issues for years … she told me that her husband read the piece and said, ‘Oh, now I can see what you’re so upset about, and [why] you were so angry.’”
For early-in-career journalists hoping to conduct in-depth business investigations, Lerner’s advice is simple: Take advantage of any and all opportunities that cross your path.
“This particular kind of story is only possible when you have an opening, right? I had someone come up to me and say, ‘I have a story for you,’ which is always a gift for a journalist. And, I guess my only advice would be if that happens to you, jump on it,” Lerner said.
For more information on how to cover investigative business stories, check out “Chapter 4: Manufacturing” of The Reynolds Center’s Business Beat Basics: A Guide to Covering All Things Business.
