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L.A. County sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola over their role in ongoing plastic pollution crisis

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Thursday, October 31, 2024

Los Angeles County has filed suit against the world’s largest beverage companies — Coca-Cola and Pepsi — claiming the soda and drink makers lied to the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, and as a result, left county residents and ecosystems choking in discarded plastic.The suit is the latest in a series of high-profile legal actions California officials have taken against petrochemical corporations and plastic manufacturers. In September, sate Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and a group of environmental organizations sued Exxon Mobil, accusing the company falsely promoting plastics as universally recyclable when, in reality, the vast majority of these products cannot be reused.The Los Angeles County suit alleges — in a vein similar to that of Bonta’s suit against ExxonMobil — that the global beverage companies misrepresented the environmental impact of their plastic bottles, “despite knowing that plastics cannot be readily disposed of without associated environmental impacts.”“Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems” their products are causing, said Los Angeles County Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath.Neither company had yet to respond to requests for comment from The Times.Currently, just 9% of the world’s plastics are recycled. The rest ends up being incinerated, sent to landfills, or discarded on the landscape, where they are often flushed into rivers or out to sea. At the same time, there is growing concern about the health and environmental consequences of microplastics — the bits of degraded plastic that slough off as the product ages, or is used, or washed. The tiny particles have been detected in every ecosystem on the planet that has been surveyed, as well as nearly every living organism examined — including the brain, heart, lungs, blood and semen of humans.In a statement, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said that current methods of recycling are “incapable of eliminating environmental impacts.” Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own the brands Coke, Pepsi, Dasani, Smartwater, Fanta, Aquafina, Gatorade, 7-Up, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and Mountain Dew, among others. Together, the two companies own roughly 72.8% of the carbonated soft drink market in the U.S. — with Coca-Cola owning 46.3% and Pepsi 26.5%. According to the county’s statement, the two companies have consistently ranked as the world’s “top plastic polluters.”Environmentalists and plastic pollution opponents hailed the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday. “It’s encouraging to see corporate polluters finally being held accountable for exploiting the trust of their customers in order to turn huge profits at the expense of human and planetary health,” said Jennifer Savage of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation. Surfrider, Heal the Bay, Sierra Club, and San Francisco Baykeeper collectively sued ExxonMobil in September, in a lawsuit similar to Bonta’s.The beverage maker lawsuit was filed by County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison on behalf of the People of the State of California in Los Angeles Superior Court.The suit seeks injunctive relief to “stop the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, restitution for consumers of the money acquired by means of the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation,” the county board said in a statement.The penalties could be per customer or per bottle — the case will be prosecuted in civil court by the County Counsel’s Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division.“The goal of this lawsuit is to stop the unfair and illegal conduct, to address the marketing practices that deceive consumers, and to force these businesses to change their practices to reduce the plastic pollution problem in the County and in California,” said Harrison in a statement. “My office is committed to protecting the public from deceptive business practices and holding these companies accountable for their role in the plastic pollution crisis.”

The suit is the latest in a series of high-profile legal actions California officials have taken against petrochemical corporations and plastic manufacturers.

Los Angeles County has filed suit against the world’s largest beverage companies — Coca-Cola and Pepsi — claiming the soda and drink makers lied to the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, and as a result, left county residents and ecosystems choking in discarded plastic.

The suit is the latest in a series of high-profile legal actions California officials have taken against petrochemical corporations and plastic manufacturers. In September, sate Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and a group of environmental organizations sued Exxon Mobil, accusing the company falsely promoting plastics as universally recyclable when, in reality, the vast majority of these products cannot be reused.

The Los Angeles County suit alleges — in a vein similar to that of Bonta’s suit against ExxonMobil — that the global beverage companies misrepresented the environmental impact of their plastic bottles, “despite knowing that plastics cannot be readily disposed of without associated environmental impacts.”

“Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems” their products are causing, said Los Angeles County Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath.

Neither company had yet to respond to requests for comment from The Times.

Currently, just 9% of the world’s plastics are recycled. The rest ends up being incinerated, sent to landfills, or discarded on the landscape, where they are often flushed into rivers or out to sea.

At the same time, there is growing concern about the health and environmental consequences of microplastics — the bits of degraded plastic that slough off as the product ages, or is used, or washed. The tiny particles have been detected in every ecosystem on the planet that has been surveyed, as well as nearly every living organism examined — including the brain, heart, lungs, blood and semen of humans.

In a statement, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said that current methods of recycling are “incapable of eliminating environmental impacts.”

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own the brands Coke, Pepsi, Dasani, Smartwater, Fanta, Aquafina, Gatorade, 7-Up, Sprite, Vitamin Water, and Mountain Dew, among others. Together, the two companies own roughly 72.8% of the carbonated soft drink market in the U.S. — with Coca-Cola owning 46.3% and Pepsi 26.5%.

According to the county’s statement, the two companies have consistently ranked as the world’s “top plastic polluters.”

Environmentalists and plastic pollution opponents hailed the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday.

“It’s encouraging to see corporate polluters finally being held accountable for exploiting the trust of their customers in order to turn huge profits at the expense of human and planetary health,” said Jennifer Savage of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation.

Surfrider, Heal the Bay, Sierra Club, and San Francisco Baykeeper collectively sued ExxonMobil in September, in a lawsuit similar to Bonta’s.

The beverage maker lawsuit was filed by County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison on behalf of the People of the State of California in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The suit seeks injunctive relief to “stop the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, restitution for consumers of the money acquired by means of the companies’ unfair and deceptive business practices, and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation,” the county board said in a statement.

The penalties could be per customer or per bottle — the case will be prosecuted in civil court by the County Counsel’s Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division.

“The goal of this lawsuit is to stop the unfair and illegal conduct, to address the marketing practices that deceive consumers, and to force these businesses to change their practices to reduce the plastic pollution problem in the County and in California,” said Harrison in a statement. “My office is committed to protecting the public from deceptive business practices and holding these companies accountable for their role in the plastic pollution crisis.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Nanotech Scientists Build on an Insect’s Odd Soccer Ball-Like Excretions to Design Ingenious Camouflage

Artificial versions of nanoscale soccer-ball-like structures called brochosomes might be used to make new forms of military camouflage, self-cleaning surfaces or hydrogen fuel

January 2, 20255 min readNanotech Scientists Build on an Insect’s Odd Soccer Ball-Like Excretions to Design Ingenious CamouflageArtificial versions of nanoscale soccer-ball-like structures called brochosomes might be used to make new forms of military camouflage, self-cleaning surfaces or hydrogen fuelBy Ivan Amato edited by Gary StixScience Photo Library/Alamy Stock PhotoIn the early 1950s biologists at Brooklyn College were using an electron microscope to pursue a lead that the leafhopper, a common insect that is about the size of a rice grain and named after one of its signature behaviors, could be an agent of viral transmission. In their research, the scientists incidentally observed, in their words, “certain ultramicroscopic bodies, hitherto undescribed,” on the wings of leafhoppers. In a 1953 note in the Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society, they dubbed these minuscule, spherical, jacklike structures “brochosomes,” after a Greek word meaning “mesh of a net.”Since then a thin but determined line of scientists and engineers has built a brochosome-anchored hyperspecialty. These researchers are drawn to these subpinpoints of highly structured matter by the biological wonders they embody and the technological possibilities their elaborately porous forms and physical properties suggest. Brochosome aficionados do not hesitate to share their delight at having run across such an evolutionary tour de force.“Our group first became intrigued by brochosomes around 2015, drawn to their nanoscale dimensions and intricate, three-dimensional buckyball-like geometries,” says Tak-Sing Wong, a biomedical and mechanical engineer at Pennsylvania State University. “We were amazed by how leafhoppers can consistently produce such complex structures at the nanoscale, especially considering that even with our most advanced micro- and nanofabrication technologies we still struggle to achieve such uniformity and scalability.”On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.As much as anyone interested in these structures, Wong has been working to channel his brochosome envy into the creation of a cabinet of technological curiosities based on brochosomes’ knack for absorbing specific ranges of visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Wong, with his partners at Penn State and Carnegie Mellon University, has been granted two U.S. patents and has others pending for processes to manufacture synthetic counterparts to brochosomes.Wong says the synthetic brochosomes are potentially suitable for a range of applications, including antireflection and camouflage materials, anticounterfeiting, data encryption and an “optical security,” tactic in which hidden information becomes visible only when it is illuminated with, say, infrared or ultraviolet light. The researchers have been able to garner grant money from the Office of Naval Research, which is always on the lookout for the next way to make it harder for adversaries to detect and track naval vessels, aircraft and other U.S. military assets.Much of the recent brochosome-inspired R&D around the world, Wong notes, derives from the ultra-antireflective upgrade that nature-made brochosomes add to leafhoppers’ body. It’s not just cool optical physics: this trick of the light renders the insects stealthy on leaf surfaces where hungry insects, birds and spiders scan for prey.Some of the forays into brochosome biology have revealed that these natural nanoscale innovations are composed of proteins and lipids that get assembled into the stealth-making nanospheres within specialized compartments of the insects’ Malpighian tubules, which are kidneylike excretory organs. With their hind legs, the insects groom their entire little selves with brochosome-packed microdroplets from their anus, resulting in light-absorptive cloaks that help them live another day.But the nanospheres are good for more than just concealment. In a recent addition to the growing list of concepts and prototypes of brochosome-inspired technologies, Wong’s Penn State team joined Carnegie Mellon University researchers, led by mechanical engineer Sheng Shen, with an eye to delivering new materials not just for camouflage but for novel security and encryption devices as well. The technology leverages people’s inability to perceive infrared light.As the researchers were making measurements of optical and other physical aspects of synthetic brochosomes, they noticed that “while these structures appeared identical under visible light, they exhibited dramatic contrasts in infrared imaging,” Shen says. And that sparked an encryption- and security-technology idea, which the researchers now are pursuing. The team is asking whether it might be possible to encode infrared information invisibly within the visible spectrum. A small dot of such an infrared-active brochosome material on currency could serve as a signature of authenticity and add an additional hurdle for would-be counterfeiters.Researchers have explored a half-dozen ways of fabricating synthetic brochosomes of various sizes and geometries. Through the use of different polymeric, ceramic and metallic materials, the cabinet of brochosome-inspired technocuriosities is only becoming more eye-catching.A team of Chinese researchers who are brochosome fans recently reported a process for making a vivid spectrum of color-bestowing particles by filling tiny indentations—“nanobowl” spaces—on silver brochosome structures with tiny polystyrene spheres. When the researchers tailored the sizes of the spheres with a precise etching method, they were able to tweak the electromagnetic interactions between the spheres and, thereby, the apparent colors of the synthetic brochosome-structures. In an ACS Nano paper in which the researchers rolled out their color-making strategy, they suggested this opened a pathway for producing longer-lasting and more stable colors compared with shorter-lived chemical dyes and pigments.A different Chinese research group, attempting to emulate the master-of-disguise feats of chameleons, cephalopods and other creatures, fabricated tungsten-oxide-based brochosome structures that become less reflective when they are electrically stimulated. One possible end point for this work could be energy-saving applications—windows that could regulate the amount of solar and thermal energy that passed through them over the course of the day.On an even more expansive and eclectic to-do list are light-harvesting electrodes that could generate and corral energized electrons to make hydrogen fuel and self-cleaning surfaces that could repel liquids and adhesives. Also on the list are sensors that could be tailored for detecting specific bacteria and proteins for environmental monitoring and health applications. Additionally, there is the prospect of brochosome-inspired particles whose pores and surfaces could be tailored to carry specific drugs to target tissues.The promise seems enormous, but an era of brochosome-inspired technology is not an immediate prospect. “One of the major bottlenecks to the widespread use of synthetic brochosomes is the lack of scalable production technologies, as their complex 3D shapes and nanoscale dimensions remain challenging to replicate at scale,” Wong cautions.Whether specific brochosome-inspired technologies get to the finish line or not, Wong says that he loves sharing his work with nonscientist family members and friends. “They are immediately captivated by the beauty of the brochosomes’ soccer-ball-looking structures,” he says. “When I explain that the structures are about 100 times thinner than the diameter of a hair, they can hardly believe it.”Meanwhile Shen welcomes a humbling aspect of this research romance with brochosomes. “It’s a powerful reminder that innovation doesn’t always need to come from human ingenuity,” he says. “Sometimes nature has already solved the problems we’re working on.”

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Women on the Front Line: The Fight for a Better Life in Cancer Alley

Photographer Wayan Barre features some of the women fighting environmental injustice in the heartland of Louisiana.

In the heartland of Louisiana, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, a 150-mile corridor along the Mississippi River tells a tale of environmental degradation, social injustice, and economic struggle. This region, home to more than 150 behemoth chemical facilities and oil refineries, is also home to numerous communities, predominantly low-income and marginalized. Nearly 50 percent of the residents are African American, their roots intertwined with the land for centuries, dating back to the days of slavery when they were forced to cut and process sugarcane on vast plantations that dominated Louisiana’s River Parishes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports a staggering 95 percent higher risk of cancer due to air pollution for residents in this area compared with the rest of the United States. This tragedy has earned the corridor the morbid moniker “Cancer Alley,” a term underscored in 2021 by United Nations human rights experts as a stark example of environmental racism. On the front lines of this battle, women—most of them African American—are powering the environmental justice movement. Here are a few of their stories. These photos, along with another version of this story, are scheduled to appear in the January 2025 edition of Country Roads magazine in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Maryland Sues Maker of Gore-Tex Over Pollution From Toxic 'Forever Chemicals'

Maryland is suing the company that produces the waterproof material Gore-Tex

Maryland is suing the company that produces the waterproof material Gore-Tex often used for raincoats and other outdoor gear, alleging its leaders kept using “forever chemicals” long after learning about serious health risks associated with them.The complaint, which was filed last week in federal court, focuses on a cluster of 13 facilities in northeastern Maryland operated by Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates. It alleges the company polluted the air and water around its facilities with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, jeopardizing the health of surrounding communities while raking in profits.The lawsuit adds to other claims filed in recent years, including a class action on behalf of Cecil County residents in 2023 demanding Gore foot the bill for water filtration systems, medical bills and other damages associated with decades of harmful pollution in the largely rural community.“PFAS are linked to cancer, weakened immune systems, and can even harm the ability to bear children,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for any company to knowingly contaminate our drinking water with these toxins, putting Marylanders at risk of severe health conditions.”Gore spokesperson Donna Leinwand Leger said the company is “surprised by the Maryland Attorney General’s decision to initiate legal action, particularly in light of our proactive and intensive engagement with state regulators over the past two years.”“We have been working with Maryland, employing the most current, reliable science and technology to assess the potential impact of our operations and guide our ongoing, collaborative efforts to protect the environment,” the company said in a statement, noting a Dec. 18 report that contains nearly two years of groundwater testing results.But attorney Philip Federico, who represents plaintiffs in the class action and other lawsuits against Gore, called the company’s efforts “too little, much too late.” In the meantime, he said, residents are continuing to suffer — one of his clients was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer.“It’s typical corporate environmental contamination,” he said. “They’re in no hurry to fix the problem.”The synthetic chemicals are especially harmful because they’re nearly indestructible and can build up in various environments, including the human body. In addition to cancers and immune system problems, exposure to certain levels of PFAS has been linked to increased cholesterol levels, reproductive health issues and developmental delays in children, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Gore leaders failed to warn people living near its Maryland facilities about the potential impacts, hoping to protect their corporate image and avoid liability, according to the state’s lawsuit. The result has been “a toxic legacy for generations to come,” the lawsuit alleges. Since the chemicals are already in the local environment, protecting residents now often means installing complex and expensive water filtration systems. People with private wells have found highly elevated levels of dangerous chemicals in their water, according to the class action lawsuit.The Maryland facilities are located in a rural area just across the border from Delaware, where Gore has become a longtime fixture in the community. The company, which today employs more than 13,000 people, was founded in 1958 after Wilbert Gore left the chemical giant DuPont to start his own business. Its profile rose with the development of Gore-Tex, a lightweight waterproof material created by stretching polytetrafluoroethylene, which is better known by the brand name Teflon that’s used to coat nonstick pans. The membrane within Gore-Tex fabric has billions of pores that are smaller than water droplets, making it especially effective for outdoor gear. The state’s complaint traces Gore’s longstanding relationship with DuPont, arguing that information about the chemicals' dangers was long known within both companies as they sought to keep things quiet and boost profits. It alleges that as early as 1961, DuPont scientists knew the chemical caused adverse liver reactions in rats and dogs.DuPont has faced widespread litigation in recent years. Along with two spinoff companies, it announced a $1.18 billion deal last year to resolve complaints of polluting many U.S. drinking water systems with forever chemicals. The Maryland lawsuit seeks to hold Gore responsible for costs associated with the state’s ongoing investigations and cleanup efforts, among other damages. State oversight has ramped up following litigation from residents alleging their drinking water was contaminated.Until then, the company operated in Cecil County with little scrutiny.Gore announced in 2014 that it had eliminated perfluorooctanoic acid from the raw materials used to create Gore-Tex. But it’s still causing long-term impacts because it persists for so long in the environment, attorneys say. Over the past two years, Gore has hired an environmental consulting firm to conduct testing in the area and provided bottled water and water filtration systems to residents near certain Maryland facilities, according to a webpage describing its efforts. Recent testing of drinking water at residences near certain Gore sites revealed perfluorooctanoic acid levels well above what the EPA considers safe, according to state officials. Attorneys for the state acknowledged Gore’s ongoing efforts to investigate and address the problem but said the company needs to step up and be a better neighbor. “While we appreciate Gore’s limited investigation to ascertain the extent of PFAS contamination around its facilities, much more needs to be done to protect the community and the health of residents,” Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said in a statement. “We must remove these forever chemicals from our natural resources urgently, and we expect responsible parties to pay for this remediation.”Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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EPA to formally review risks of vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals

Evaluation could lead to limits or bans on substances commonly used in the production of plastic and rubberThe Environmental Protection Agency is launching a formal review of five highly toxic plastic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, the notorious compound at the center of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck fire.The move could lead to strong limits or bans on the substances. Continue reading...

The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a formal review of five highly toxic plastic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, the notorious compound at the center of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck fire.The move could lead to strong limits or bans on the substances.Vinyl chloride is most commonly used in PVC pipe and packaging production, but is also cancerous and highly flammable. For about 50 years, the federal government has considered limits on the substance, but industry has thwarted most regulatory efforts, hid the substances’ risks and is already mobilizing against the new review.The step is “one of the most important chemical review processes ever undertaken” by the agency, said Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former EPA administrator.“I applaud the EPA,” she added.The federal government designates vinyl chloride as a known carcinogen, and the substance is also a neurotoxicant linked to liver damage, permanent changes to bones, and other serious health issues. The EPA is also reviewing acetaldehyde, benzenamine, acrylonitrile and MBOCA, each used in the production of plastic and rubber. All the chemicals are considered to be or are probable carcinogens and linked to other health problems, like anemia, kidney damage and neurotoxicity.The nation’s use of vinyl chloride drew intense scrutiny after dozens of cars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed and burned in February 2023 in East Palestine. The fire burned near tankers carrying vinyl chloride, and, two days later, fearing a “major explosion”, officials conducted a controlled burn of the chemical as a preventive measure.When vinyl chloride burns, it creates dioxins, a highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical class that can stay in the environment for generations. The levels of dioxin found in East Palestine in the days after the wreck were hundreds of times greater than the exposure threshold above which the EPA in 2010 found poses cancer risks. Soil and food contamination are considered to be among the most common exposure routes, and the controlled burn’s towering plume also sent dioxins across 16 states.Vinyl chloride is transported in freight trains that are prone to accidents, and East Palestine was only one in a series of vinyl chloride incidents – experts expect a similar accident. A recent report found more than 3 million Americans live within one mile of railroad tracks on which vinyl chloride is transported.The Vinyl Institute, which represents vinyl chloride and PVC producers, has downplayed the risk, and labeled the reports “publicity stunts”.The EPA’s announcement concludes a year-long period in which it gathered comments from industry, public health advocates, labor and others involved in the substances’ use, as is required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which covers the nation’s use of toxic chemicals.It will spend the next three months gathering more information, and, following that, determine whether to classify the chemicals as high-priority substances under TSCA. That would trigger a formal study to determine if vinyl chloride presents an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.That assessment could take three years, and, following that, the EPA would establish new rules. But the action faces an uncertain future – incoming Trump allies have already signaled that they will kill any proposed regulations that have not been finalized.Opposition from industry against PVC limits is expected to be stiff in part because the substance is used in medical devices, vinyl siding for buildings, drinking water pipes, electrical wiring, household goods like shower curtains and raincoats. Industry groups have already touted the substance’s ubiquity in a statement on the EPA’s announcement.“[It] presents a welcome opportunity to share our expertise on the many indispensable uses of this highly regulated material,” the Vinyl Institute wrote.

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Rewriting History: King Solomon’s Mines Proven Clean by Modern Science

A groundbreaking study from Tel Aviv University dispels long-standing myths about King Solomon’s Mines, revealing that ancient copper production in Timna Valley caused minimal and localized environmental harm. Researchers used advanced geochemical surveys to determine that pollution levels were far lower than previously assumed and posed no danger to ancient or modern populations. This discovery [...]

A groundbreaking study from Tel Aviv University dispels long-standing myths about King Solomon’s Mines, revealing that ancient copper production in Timna Valley caused minimal and localized environmental harm. Researchers used advanced geochemical surveys to determine that pollution levels were far lower than previously assumed and posed no danger to ancient or modern populations. This discovery [...]

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