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Litigation over claims that social media addict children and harm mental health continues to hold attorneys' attention, along with claims that "forever chemicals" are a source of cancer.

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Additionally, attorneys are watching litigation over a common heartburn medication.

Here's what to watch out for the next half of the year in product liability.

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PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have sparked litigation because they do not break down in the environment and have been linked to cancer and other health problems.

Called forever chemicals, they have been used in numerous ways such as firefighting foam and consumer products such as food packaging, and the claims brought against manufacturers have included contamination of water supplies.

"We've actually seen a couple of lawsuits filed in our jurisdiction against manufacturers of what I would call more traditional food packaging ... saying that PFAS that was used to make those things is leaching into the product that is ultimately being eaten or consumed by the consumer," said <strong>Paul Benson of Michael Best &amp; Friedrich LLP</strong>, who is based in Milwaukee. "And I don't see that litigation stopping for a long, long time. It answers the question that I've been asked for all 34 years of my career: What's the next asbestos?"

Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is facing a recently filed petition by farmer advocacy groups and environmentalists to push the agency to ban the use of pesticide formulas and containers made with PFAS.

The Center for Food Safety and others said that the EPA continues to approve PFAS for use in pesticides containers, even though the agency has identified them as toxic.

Close-up of a wooden judge’s gavel resting on a sounding block in a courtroom setting.

Close-up of a wooden judge’s gavel resting on a sounding block.

Paul Benson quoted in Law360’s article, “Product Liability Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report”

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