PFAS: The Forever Chemicals Your KiwiSaver Might be Backing

2 minute read

Article authored by Mindful Money Research Analyst Sophie Auckram.

Plastic bags in our waters, microplastics in our brains, and PFAS in our lungs. The amount of chemicals and waste products that we ingest as humans is very concerning and there is a lack of regulation to stop the production and distribution of these chemicals which filter into our ecosystems and damage marine life. Long lasting chemicals like PFAS can take thousands of years to break down and companies are to blame for significant amounts of pollution. These companies could be within your investment funds.

What exactly is point and nonpoint source pollution?

Point and nonpoint source pollution causes a significant amount of damage to our oceans through direct discharge into the environment and runoff from land-based activities. Companies that directly discharge waste directly into waterways contribute to point source pollution (waste dumping), allowing toxic chemicals and heavy metals to seep into the environment harming ocean life. Urban area pollution poses severe environmental risks, as 80% of urban sewage in developing countries is being discharged untreated into water bodies (MFE, 2025). This pollution is particularly potent as urban runoff is able to contain up to 100x more bacteria than raw sewage. These pollutants have long lasting impacts on ocean life through eutrophication, as excessive amounts of algae contribute to oxygen loss and create “dead zones" of marine life (Todd et al., 2014). 

The issue of ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS)

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as ‘forever chemicals’, pose a significant threat due to their persistence in the environment and their harmful effects on both marine ecosystems and human health. They reside in a significant amount of consumer products from waterproof clothing to nonstick cookware and can enter the environment from household chemicals washing down the drain to firefighting foam. They currently are unable to be extracted from the ocean and ocean waves crashing on the shore emit more PFAS than all of the world’s industrial polluters (Xie & Kallenborn, 2023). Long chain PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS have significant health impacts such as cancer, infertility, neurodevelopmental issues and cardiovascular diseases (Mislanova & Valachovicova, 2025). The only way to stop PFAS pollution is to stop them at the source, which requires good regulation and calling out companies which are the worst PFAS polluters.

The widespread presence of PFAS pollution can be attributed to several companies whose products and waste-disposal practices have contributed to substantial environmental contamination. 3M and DuPont (now owned by Corteva) are two companies which are well known for their PFAS pollution as they have faced fines of $13billion and $1billion each (Reuters, 2023). Both companies used tactics akin to the tobacco industry to conceal evidence of the toxicity of PFAS, ignoring warning signs and delayed regulations which would govern PFAS use. Agricultural companies like BASF and Bayer produce PFAS through agricultural runoff, chemicals and wastewater. They have faced lawsuits for water and soil contamination (BBC, 2020). Other companies such as Honeywell have been responsible for ongoing PCB and mercury contamination, Chemours for long-term PFOA pollution and AGC Inc is responsible for placing 15 significant PFAS substances on the US and EU markets (ChemSec, 2023). These seven companies alone account for $94 million in Kiwisaver and Managed Fund investment. 

Who has control over our natural resources?

Private ownership of public resources is highly contentious, particularly when managing important public assets like water, energy and public transportation. Recently, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a $133m plan to combat PFAS pollution, shifting from private wells to a municipal water system (Richmond, 2026). The government approximated that up to half of US households have some PFAS in their water, due to communities being located near industrial sites and military bases. Stricter regulation and more public control over water has potential to help this issue. In New Zealand, the EPA has banned PFAS in firefighting foam as of late 2025 and in cosmetic products by the end of 2026 (EPA, 2024). There is also recent University of Auckland research that highlights how effective harakeke can be in PFAS pollution, with harakeke removing between 70-99% of short chain PFAS in testing (University of Auckland, 2024).

The problem with public vs private ownership is international. Globally, private ownership of public resources has been an issue due to increasing prices for consumers, cutting corners and lack of transparency (We Own It, 2025). In Aotearoa, we have seen this issue with the Moa Point environmental disaster in Poneke Wellington in February of this year. Due to heavy rain the plant sent sewage overflow into the south coast of Wellington, at 70 million litres of sewage per day. Decades of underfunding and aging pipes have contributed to wastewater and stormwater flooding across the capital (Hunt, 2026). However, the Moa Point incident also highlights the issue of private ownership with company Veolia managing four of Wellington’s sewage plants (Pennington, 2025). Veolia has been implicated in other water mismanagement scandals including in Flint (Michigan), Colombia, Australia and Chile.

The companies most responsible 

Companies like 3M, Chemours and Honeywell have control over resource management which has caused serious PFAS pollution and there is little regulation in place to stop them. Private ownership of public resources such as water increases risks of pollution entering our oceans and rivers and significantly harming ecosystems. As an individual, what you can do to stop investment in harmful PFAS polluters is to check your Kiwisaver fund. Your Kiwisaver fund could be funding these companies which are causing significant harm to people and our oceans. If your Kiwisaver has harmful investments, you can change to a fund which creates positive outcomes for the planet. 

The analysis from Mindful Money’s report ‘Let our Oceans Breathe: How Investors Can Support Ocean Health’ revealed waste dumping and nonpoint source pollution as one of the 5 main drivers of ocean degradation. From this we identified the companies contributing to the most significant harm:

• 3M
• AGC Inc
• BASF
• Bayer
• Chemours
• Corteva
• Honeywell

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Point and not point source pollution is just one of the topics covered in Mindful Money’s report ‘Let our Oceans Breathe’ which outlines how investment in certain sectors and companies threatens our oceans.