The documentary film, “The Devil We Know”, directed by Stephanie Soechtig exposes the serious dangers of chemicals used by DuPont to manufacture Teflon kitchenware. . One such chemical is PFOA which has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses. By purposely dumping dangerous compounds into drinking water and willingly exposing workers to PFOA also known as C-8, DuPont has created one of the biggest environmental cover-ups to date. DuPont continues to deny that C-8 and PFOA are harmful despite files showing potential dangers as far back as 1982 and entire communities that have been ravaged by cancer and other ailments.

The Devil We Know focuses on the blue collar community of Parkersburg, WV which has borne the brunt of damages from DuPont. Manufacturing is the backbone of Parkersburg. Common products include teflon cookware, waterproof jackets, and microwave popcorn bags, all of which require C-8. Citizens of Parkersburg who worked directly with the chemicals, including pregnant women, were the first to feel the effects of C-8. Extremely high rates of cancer and birth defects were present in the population and children’s teeth began to turn black. One resident, Bucky Bailey, was born with a birth defect that required him to undergo over 30 surgeries as a child and permanently altered his genetic code. Pollution from the factories and from DuPont ran downstream to other communities in the Ohio River Valley and potentially to the entire United States.

The film begins with footage taken by a Parkersburg farmer, Wilbur Tennant, of dead livestock and dogs on portions of land which he sold to Dupont. Tennant was told by DuPont that the land would be used for “non-hazardous” waste. However, when his cattle began suffering birth defects such as white, blind eyes and dying prematurely, he started to believe otherwise. The footage features Tennant belligerently expressing his view that something incredibly wrong was occuring on his land. Tennant was one of the first in his community to be suspicious of DuPont’s motives and to recognize signs that all was not well with the water. He attempted to get help from city officials, doctors, veterinarians, lawyers, and journalists, who all turned him away. DuPont owned the majority of Parkersburg and Tennant realized that he would have to seek help elsewhere. DuPont’s control over the towns it operated in is a theme that runs throughout the documentary.

The key point of the film is the investigation into DuPont which features interviews from those involved in the case as well as taped depositions from DuPont executives and lawyers. DuPont’s files made it clear that the company was aware of the dangers of C-8 and PFOA and continued to manufacture it regardless. When their rival chemical company, 3M, discontinued production of C-8 due to the clear dangers it posed, DuPont upped production. Despite links to ailments and the fact that C-8 has been found in the drinking water of 27 states, DuPont has not been seriously damaged by lawsuits, yet. Attorney Rob Bilott is a prominent feature in the documentary. His fight against DuPont began in 1999, when he took Tennant’s case against DuPont. He later represented 70,000 who had been drinking water directly laced with PFOA for years and helped to organize one of the largest epidemiological studies of chemicals in the history of the United States. Part of the film tracks Bilott’s cases against DuPont and shows the mountains of incriminating data freely given by DuPont. 2

The documentary does not go into much detail on the effects on consumers besides mentioning that C-8 is found in the blood of 99% of the world’s population. As many as 110 million Americans are potentially drinking water that has been contaminated with PFAS chemicals, including an estimated 24,904 people in South Carolina. PFOAs have been found in the blood of animals from Alaskan polar bears to albatrosses on Sand Island in the Midway Atoll. The dangers posed by PFOAs and other chemicals are serious and do not appear to be solved anytime soon.

Link: https://www.netflix.com/search?q=the%20devil%20we&jbv=80997719&jbp=0&jbr=0