“Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy” (full documentary) | FRONTLINE (PBS)

How did PFAS chemicals once used in popular stain-resistant carpets end up in the water and environment in parts of Georgia and Alabama? An investigation from FRONTLINE in partnership with The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Post and Courier and AL.com.

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For decades, PFAS, a group of manmade forever chemicals prized for their water- and stain-resistance, were ubiquitous in everything from nonstick pans to raincoats to shoes. But accumulating research has linked some kinds of PFAS to serious health problems. In few places is this issue more pronounced than northwest Georgia, home to some of the world’s largest carpet companies, and now grappling with an environmental crisis.

This story unfolds in “Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy,” a documentary investigating how PFAS chemicals once used in making stain-resistant carpets ended up in the environment and the drinking water in parts of Georgia and Alabama, and the ongoing health impacts.

“Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy” is part of a groundbreaking multiplatform investigative collaboration among local and national news organizations. Over much of the past year, the consortium of journalists reviewed thousands of pages of documents and court depositions and interviewed former regulators and industry insiders, as well as doctors, scientists and people who have the kinds of illnesses that researchers have linked to PFAS contamination.

The carpet industry has long insisted it’s not to blame for PFAS getting into the environment and noted that chemical companies obscured the risks and assured them the products they were supplying were safe. But recently reviewed records also show that executives from two of the largest carpet companies received warnings dating back decades about potential harms of some types of PFAS.

The companies say they stopped using any kind of PFAS in U.S. manufacturing in 2019. But since PFAS takes so long to break down, communities fear that decades of use of these forever chemicals have made their drinking water unsafe — and local governments say the problem is too vast for them to fix alone.

“Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy” is a FRONTLINE production with Five O’Clock Films in association with the AP, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AL.com and The Post and Courier. The writer, director and producer is Jonathan Schienberg. The producers are Kate McCormick and Dana Miller Ervin. The reporters are Jason Dearen of the AP, Dylan Jackson and Justin Price of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Margaret Kates of AL.com. The editors of the AP’s Local Investigative Reporting Program are Ron Nixon and Justin Pritchard. The investigative editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is Brad Schrade. The senior editor of FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative is Erin Texeira. The senior producer is Frank Koughan. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

Explore reporting related to “Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy” on our website and from our partners:

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Additional support for "Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy" is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the AP’s Local Investigative Reporting Program and the GBH Climate and Environment Fund.