Martha Spiess, a retired veterinarian, began testing streams and ponds in Brunswick, Maine, after hearing that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, had contaminated farms around the state. "It felt like tragedy was falling all around me," she said.
Spiess was familiar with the compounds often called "forever chemicals" due to their persistence in the environment. She had first encountered them while growing up in Minnesota where her father, an organic chemist, worked for 3M, a major PFAS manufacturer. In the late 1960s, she recalled, her family received a gift box filled with 3M product samples. As she unpacked the items, her father grabbed the can of Scotchgard and told her, "Don't you ever use this!"
