title: Durga Puja

text: In 2019, Kolkata's Durga Puja was nominated by the Indian government for the 2020 UNESCO Representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Durga Puja also stands to be politically and economically significant. The committees organising Durga Puja in Kolkata have close links to politicians. Politicians patronize the festival by making donations or helping raise money for funding of community pujas, or by marking their presence at puja events and inaugurations. The grant of 25,000 to puja organizing committees in West Bengal by a debt-ridden state government was reported to cost a budget a 70 crores. The state government also announced an additional grant of 5,000 to puja organizing committees fully managed by women alone, while also announcing a twenty-five percent concession on total electricity bills for puja "pandal". The government had made a grant of 10,000 each to more than 20,000 puja organizing committees in the state in 2018.


title: Durga Puja

text: A 2013 report by ASSOCHAM states West Bengal's Durga Puja to be a 25,000 crores worth economy, expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate of about 35 per-cent. Economic slowdowns in India, such as in 2019, have hence affected corporate sponsorships and puja budgets for public celebrations. In August 2019, the Income Tax Department of India had allegedly sent notices to various Durga Puja organizing committees in West Bengal, against which the ruling party of the state, All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) protested. The Central Board of Direct Taxes denied sending any such notices, to which AITMC politician Madan Mitra is reported to have said that the intention may have been to enquire if tax deducted at source had been deducted on payments to vendors for organizing community pujas.


title: Durga Puja

text: Durga Puja directly affects the economy. In 2022, the economy of West Bengal was estimated to get a boost of 50,000 crore rupees. The annual GDP of West Bengal was expected to be expanded by 20-30 percent that year. The factors responsible for this economic boost are mainly the increase of earning in transport, tourism, industry, business, shopping and other fields. The Kolkata Metro Railway recorded an earning of ₹6 crore in just five days of Durga Puja in 2022.


title: Durga Puja

text: The famous puja pandals get sponsorship from renowned companies and labels. Usually, the dress and jewelries of the idols, the stuffs used to make the pandals, decorations, lightings are sponsored.


title: Durga Puja

text: Durga Puja plays a great significance in the living of certain peoples. The "kumor"s, those who make the idols with clay and also makes other clayey products, earns lakhs of rupees by selling a single set of Durga idol of average size. Hence, it makes their annual income because idols used in other festivals are a lot more cheaper. Other professions that receive the majority of their annual income are "dhaaki" (plays "dhaak"), priest and other small homecrafts. It is assumed that these profession based small classes would become smaller in population if Durga Puja was absent.


title: Durga Puja

text: The day of Mahalaya is marked by the Bengali community with "Mahishasuramardini" — a two-hours long All India Radio program — that has been popular in the Bengali community since the 1950s. While in earlier days it used to be recorded live, a pre-recorded version has come to be broadcast in recent decades. Bengalis traditionally wake up at four in the morning on Mahalaya to listen to the radio show, primarily involving recitations of chants and hymns from "Devi Mahatmyam" (or "Chandi Path") by Birendra Krishna Bhadra and Pankaj Kumar Mullick. The show also features various devotional melodies.


title: Durga Puja

text: Dramas enacting the legend of Durga slaying Mahishasura are telecasted on the television. Radio and television channels also air other festive shows, while Bengali and Odia magazines publish special editions for the puja known as "Pujabarshiki" ("Annual Puja Edition") or "Sharadiya Sankhya" ("Autumnal Volume"). These contain works of writers, both established and upcoming, and are more voluminous than the regular issues. Some notable examples of such magazines in Bengali are "Anandamela", "Shuktara", "Desh", "Sananda", "Nabakallol", and "Bartaman".


title: Durga Puja

text: Durga Puja is celebrated commonly by Bangladesh's Hindu community. Some Bengali Muslims also take part in the festivities. In Dhaka, the Dhakeshwari Temple puja attracts visitors and devotees. In Nepal, the festivities are celebrated as Dashain.


title: Durga Puja

text: Beyond south Asia, Durga Puja is organized by Bengali communities in the United States of America. Durga Puja celebrations have also been started in Hong Kong by the Bengali diaspora.


title: Durga Puja

text: In Canada, Bengali Hindu communities both from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India organise several Durga Pujas. Greater Toronto Area has the most number of Durga Puja celebration venues organized by different Bengali cultural groups such as Bangladesh Canada Hindu Cultural Society (BCHCS), Bongo Poribar Sociocultural Association etc. City of Toronto has a dedicated Durga Temple named Toronto Durgabari where Durga Puja is organized along with other Hindu celebrations. Most of the puja venues of Toronto area try to arrange the puja in best possible way to follow the lunar calendar and timings.


title: Durga Puja

text: Celebrations are also organized in Europe. The sculpture-idols are shipped from India and stored in warehouses to be re-used over the years. According to BBC News, for community celebrations in London in 2006, these "idols, belonging to a tableau measuring 18ft by 20ft, were made from clay, straw and vegetable dyes". At the end of the puja, the sculpture-idols were immersed in River Thames for the first time in 2006, after "the community was allowed to give a traditional send-off to the deities by London's port authorities". In Germany, the puja is celebrated in Cologne, and other cities. In Switzerland, puja in Baden, Aargau has been celebrated since 2003. In Sweden, the puja is celebrated in cities such as Stockholm and Helsingborg. In the Netherlands, the puja is celebrated in places such as Amstelveen, Eindhoven, and Voorschoten. In Japan, Durga Puja is celebrated in Tokyo with much fanfare.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Phobos (, , Ancient Greek: "fear") is the god and personification of fear and panic in Greek mythology. Phobos was the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Deimos. He does not have a major role in mythology outside of being his father's attendant.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: In Classical Greek mythology, Phobos exists as both the god of and personification of the fear brought by war. In Roman mythology, he has also been referred to as Pavor or Terror.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Phobos was the son of Ares and Aphrodite. He mainly appears in an assistant role to his father and causes disorder in battle. In the "Iliad", he accompanied his father into battle along with the goddess Eris (discord) and his brother Deimos (Dread). In Hesiod's "Shield of Herakles", Phobos and Deimos accompany Ares into battle and remove him from the field once he is injured by Herakles. In Nonnus' "Dionysiaca", Zeus arms Phobos with lightning and Deimos with thunder to frighten Typhon. Later in the work, Phobos and Deimos act as Ares's charioteers to battle the god Dionysus during his war against the Indians.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: In the "Seven Against Thebes" by Aeschylus, the seven warriors slaughter a bull over a black shield and then "...touching the bull's gore with their hands they swore an oath by Ares, by Enyo, and by Rout [Phobos]". According to Stesichorus, Ares's son, Kyknos, "...beheaded strangers who came along in order to build a temple to Phobos (fear) from the skulls."


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Hesiod depicts Phobos on the shield of Heracles as "…staring backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His mouth was full of teeth in a white row, fearful and daunting…"


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Phobos often is depicted as having a lion's or lion-like head. This may be seen in "Description of Greece" by Pausanias, "On the shield of Agamemnon is Phobos (Fear), who[se] head is a lion’s…".


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Plutarch makes reference to a shrine to Phobos at Sparta, in addition to shrines dedicated to Death (Thanatos) and Laughter (Gelos), and he claimed that the Spartans honoured fear as a positive force that held the state together. Pausanias, writing during Imperial Rome, noted that the temple dedicated to Phobos was located outside of the city.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: There are many places within the "Iliad", where Homer mentions the presence of Phobos and Deimos. Some references are:


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Homer, "Iliad" 11. 36 ff:"[The shield of Agamemnon:] And he took up the man-enclosing elaborate stark shield, a thing of splendour. There were ten circles of bronze upon it, and set about it were twenty knobs of tin, pale-shining, and in the very centre another knob of dark cobalt. And circled in the midst of all was the blank-eyed face of the Gorgo (Gorgon) with her stare of horror, and Deimos (Dread) was inscribed upon it, and Phobos (Fear).


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: Homer, "Iliad" 15. 119 ff:"So he [Ares] spoke, and ordered Deimos (Dread) and Phobos (Fear) to harness his horses, and himself got into his shining armour."


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: According to Plutarch, Alexander the Great offered sacrifices to Phobos on the eve of the Battle of Gaugamela (in all probability asking for Darius to be filled with fear). This was believed by Mary Renault to be part of Alexander's psychological warfare campaign against Darius III. Darius fled from the field of Gaugamela, making Alexander's praying to Phobos seem successful as a tactic.


title: Phobos (mythology)

text: In 1877, the American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the two satellites of the planet Mars. Hall named the two moons Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is the larger of the two satellites.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; conjugate base perfluorooctanoate; also known colloquially as C8, for its 8 carbon chain structure) is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes and as a material feedstock. PFOA is considered a surfactant, or fluorosurfactant, due to its chemical structure, which consists of a perfluorinated, "n"-octyl "tail group" and a carboxylate "head group". The head group can be described as hydrophilic while the fluorocarbon tail is both hydrophobic and lipophobic. The tail group is inert and does not interact strongly with polar or non-polar chemical moieties; the head group is reactive and interacts strongly with polar groups, specifically water. The "tail" is hydrophobic due to being non-polar and lipophobic because fluorocarbons are less susceptible to the London dispersion force than hydrocarbons.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is one of many synthetic organofluorine compounds collectively known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is used in several industrial applications, including carpeting, upholstery, apparel, floor wax, textiles, fire fighting foam and sealants. PFOA serves as a surfactant in the emulsion polymerization of fluoropolymers and as a building block for the synthesis of perfluoroalkyl-substituted compounds, polymers, and polymeric materials. PFOA has been manufactured since the 1940s in industrial quantities. It is also formed by the degradation of precursors such as some fluorotelomers. PFOA is used as a surfactant because it can lower the surface tension of water more than hydrocarbon surfactants while having exceptional stability due to having perfluoroalkyl tail group. The stability of PFOA is desired industrially but is a cause of concern environmentally.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: A study of workers living near a DuPont Teflon plant found an association between PFOA exposure and two kinds of cancer as well as four other diseases. A positive exposure-response trend for kidney cancer is supported by many studies. PFOA has been detected in the blood of more than 98% of the general US population in the low and sub-parts per billion (ppb) range, and levels are higher in chemical plant employees and surrounding subpopulations. How general populations are exposed to PFOA is not completely understood. PFOA has been detected in industrial waste, stain-resistant carpets, carpet-cleaning liquids, house dust, microwave popcorn bags, water, food, and Teflon (PTFE) products.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: As a result of a class-action lawsuit and community settlement with DuPont, three epidemiologists conducted studies on the population surrounding a chemical plant that was exposed to PFOA at levels greater than in the general population. Studies have found correlation between high PFOA exposure and six health outcomes: kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), and pregnancy-induced hypertension.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The primary manufacturer of PFOS, the 3M Company (known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company from 1902 to 2002), began a production phase-out in 2002 in response to concerns expressed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Eight other companies agreed to gradually phase out the manufacturing of the chemical by 2015.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: By 2014, EPA had listed PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonates (salts of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, PFOS) as emergent contaminants:


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: 3M (then the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) began producing PFOA by electrochemical fluorination in 1947. Starting in 1951, DuPont purchased PFOA from 3M for use in the manufacturing of specific fluoropolymers—commercially branded as Teflon, but DuPont internally referred to the material as C8.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 1968, organofluorine content was detected in the blood serum of consumers, and in 1976 it was suggested to be PFOA or a related compound such as PFOS.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 1999, EPA ordered companies to examine the effects of perfluorinated chemicals after receiving data on the global distribution and toxicity of PFOS. For these reasons, and EPA pressure, in May 2000, 3M announced the phaseout of the production of PFOA, PFOS, and PFOS-related products—the company's best-selling repellent. 3M stated that they would have made the same decision regardless of EPA pressure.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Because of the 3M phaseout, in 2002, DuPont built its own plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to manufacture the chemical. The chemical has received attention due to litigation from the PFOA-contaminated community around DuPont's Washington Works facility in Washington, West Virginia, along with EPA focus. In 2004, ChemRisk—an "industry risk assessor" that had been contracted by Dupont, reported that over 1.7 million pounds of C8 had been "dumped, poured and released" into the environment from Dupont's Parkersburg, West Virginia-based Washington Works plant between 1951 and 2003.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Research on PFOA has demonstrated ubiquity, animal-based toxicity, and some associations with human health parameters and potential health effects. Additionally, advances in analytical chemistry in recent years have allowed the routine detection of low- and sub-parts per billion levels of PFOA in a variety of substances. In 2013, Gore-Tex eliminated the use of PFOAs in the manufacture of its weatherproof functional fabrics. Major companies producing PFOA signed with the Global PFOA Stewardship Program with the goal of elimination of PFOA by 2015. Since then it has been eliminated from the production of non-stick materials used in cookware. GenX has been introduced as a replacement for PFOA, but in a 2015 study which tested the effects on rats, GenX caused many of the same health problems as PFOA, but required much higher concentrations. This is because GenX (C3) is a short chain alternative to PFOA. GenX also has a significantly shorter half-life than PFOA so it is not as bio-persistent as PFOA or other long chain perfluorinated chemicals.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In the fall of 2000, lawyer Robert Bilott, a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, won a court order forcing DuPont to share all documentation related to PFOA. This included 110,000 files, consisting of confidential studies and reports conducted by DuPont scientists over decades. By 1993, DuPont understood that "PFOA caused cancerous testicular, pancreatic and liver tumors in lab animals" and the company began to investigate alternatives. However, because products manufactured with PFOA were such an integral part of DuPont's earnings, $1 billion in annual profit, they chose to continue using PFOA. Bilott learned that both "3M and DuPont had been conducting secret medical studies on PFOA for more than four decades", and by 1961 DuPont was aware of hepatomegaly in mice fed with PFOA. Later research eventually found that PFOA had an outsized effect based on gender on several negative health outcomes in mice that had been exposed to the chemical. The PFOA exposure in these mice led to a modification of genetic expression. This led to the development of fatty tissue which caused the exposed mice to develop varying rates of hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol). The impact of PFOA on this health outcome varied greatly between mice of different genotypes across relevant parts of the genome. Also, notably, female mice across all genotypes saw significantly higher rates and more severe cases of hypercholesterolemia.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Bilott exposed how DuPont had been knowingly polluting water with PFOAs in Parkersburg, West Virginia, since the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, researchers investigated the toxicity of PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: For his work in the exposure of the contamination, lawyer Robert Bilott has received several awards including The Right Livelihood Award in 2017. This battle with DuPont is featured in the documentary "The Devil We Know", which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018, and "Dark Waters", directed by Todd Haynes.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA has two main synthesis routes, electrochemical fluorination (ECF) and telomerization. The ECF route sees octanoyl chloride (the acid chloride of octanoic acid) reacted with hydrofluoric acid. Multiple products are formed by ECF with the target acid fluoride F(CF)COF being produced as only 10–15% of the yield, while the main products are perfluorinated cyclic ether isomers, including FC-75. This acid fluoride is hydrolyzed to yield PFOA as a mixture of straight-chain (78%), terminally branched (13%), and internally branched (9%) molecules, because ECF induces rearrangements the carbon tail of the acid chloride. ECF also results in production wastes. 3M synthesized ECF PFOA at their Cottage Grove, Minnesota facility from 1947 to 2002 and was the world's largest producer. ECF production continues on a smaller scale in Europe and Asia.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is also synthesized by the telomerization represented below, where the telogen is the organoiodine compound and the taxogen is the tetrafluoroethylene. Each step is an addition reaction where the carbon-iodine bond of the telogen is added across the carbon-carbon double bond of the unsaturated taxogen, resulting in the formation of a new telogen.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The product is oxidized by SO to form PFOA. Since each addition produces a new teleomer, fluorotelomers like these form with varying length chains containing an even number of carbon atoms, depending on reaction conditions. Typically, most products within will contain between two and six taxogens (that is, from CF(CF)I to CF(CF)I). After oxidation, distillation is used to separate PFOA from the other perfluorinated carboxylic acids. The telomerization synthesis of PFOA was pioneered by DuPont, and is not well suited to the laboratory. PFOA formed by telomerization is completely linear, in contrast to the mixture of structures formed by ECF.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA has widespread applications. In 1976, PFOA was reported as a water and oil repellent "in fabrics and leather and in the production of floor waxes and waxed papers"; however, it is believed that paper is no longer treated with perfluorinated compounds, but with fluorotelomers with less than 0.1% PFOA. The compound is also used in "insulators for electric wires, planar etching of fused silica", fire fighting foam, and outdoor clothing. As a protonated species, the acid form of PFOA was the most widely used perfluorocarboxylic acid used as a reactive intermediate in the production of fluoroacrylic esters.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: As a salt, its dominant use is as an emulsifier for the emulsion polymerization of fluoropolymers such as PTFE, polyvinylidene fluoride, and fluoroelastomers. For this use, 3M subsidiary Dyneon has a replacement emulsifer despite DuPont stating PFOA is an "essential processing aid". In the past PFOA was used in the production of Gore-Tex as it is PTFE-based. In PTFE processing, PFOA is in aqueous solution and forms micelles that contain tetrafluoroethylene and the growing polymer. PFOA can be used to stabilize fluoropolymer and fluoroelastomer suspensions before further industrial processing and in ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography it can act as an extraction agent. PFOA also finds uses in electronic products and as an industrial fluorosurfactant.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In a 2009 EPA study of 116 products, purchased between March 2007 and May 2008 and found to contain at least 0.01% fluorine by weight, the concentrations of PFOA were determined. Concentrations shown below range from not detected, or ND, (with the detection limit in parenthesis) to 6750 with concentrations in nanograms of PFOA per gram of sample (parts per billion) unless stated otherwise.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA contaminates every continent. Two of the most common types (PFOS and PFOA) were phased out of production in the United States (US) in 2002 and 2015 respectively, but are still present in some imported products. PFOA and PFOS are found in every American person's blood stream in the parts per billion range, though those concentrations have decreased by 70% for PFOA and 84% for PFOS between 1999 and 2014, which coincides with the end of the production and phase out of PFOA and PFOS in the US. PFOA has been detected in the central Pacific Ocean at low parts per quadrillion ranges, and at low parts per trillion (ppt) levels in coastal waters. Due to the surfactant nature of PFOA, it has been found to concentrate in the top layers of ocean water. PFOA is detected widely in surface waters, and is present in numerous mammals, fish, and bird species. PFOA is in the blood or vital organs of Atlantic salmon, swordfish, striped mullet, gray seals, common cormorants, Alaskan polar bears, brown pelicans, sea turtles, sea eagles, Midwestern bald eagles, California sea lions and Laysan albatrosses on Sand Island, a wildlife refuge on Midway Atoll, in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, about halfway between North America and Asia. Because PFAS are ubiquitous in households, consumer products, food, and the environment generally, some trace levels reflecting this ubiquitous broad use of these compounds will make their way into the wastewater and solid waste streams.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: However, wildlife has much less PFOA than humans, unlike PFOS and other longer perfluorinated carboxylic acids; in wildlife, PFOA is not as bioaccumulative as longer perfluorinated carboxylic acids. Municipal wastewater and landfill leachates are considered as important sources of PFOA to the environment,


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Most industrialized nations have average PFOA blood serum levels ranging from 2 to 8 parts per billion; the highest consumer sub-population identified was in Korea—with about 60 parts per billion. In Peru, Vietnam, and Afghanistan blood serum levels have been recorded to be below one part per billion. In 2003–2004 99.7% of Americans had detectable PFOA in their serum with an average of about 4 parts per billion, and concentrations of PFOA in US serum have declined by 25% in recent years. Despite a decrease in PFOA, the longer perfluorinated carboxylic acid PFNA is increasing in the blood of US consumers. PFAS are also found in paper mill residuals, digestates, composts, and soils. Given the ubiquity of PFAS, and the comparative background levels which may be found in wastewater, biosolids, and leachates, setting requirements near analytical detection limits on these sources may not provide a discernable benefit to protecting public health.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is released directly from industrial sites. For example, the estimate for the DuPont Washington Works facility is a total PFOA emissions of 80,000 pounds (lbs) in 2000 and 1,700 pounds in 2004. A 2006 study, with two of four authors being DuPont employees, estimated about 80% of historical perfluorocarboxylate emissions were released to the environment from fluoropolymer manufacture and use. PFOA can be measured in water from industrial sites other than fluorochemical plants. PFOA has also been detected in emissions from the carpet industry, paper and electronics industries. The most important emission sources are carpet and textile protection products, as well as fire-fighting foams.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA can form as a breakdown product from a variety of precursor molecules. In fact, the main products of the fluorotelomer industry, fluorotelomer-based polymers, have been shown to degrade to form PFOA and related compounds, with half-lives of decades, both biotically and by simple abiotic reaction with water. It has been argued that fluorotelomer-based polymers already produced might be major sources of PFOA globally for decades to come. Other precursors that degrade to PFOA include 8:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (F(CF)CHCHOH), polyfluoroalkyl phosphate surfactants (PAPS), and possibly "N"-EtFOSE alcohol (F(CF)SON(Et)CHCHOH). When PTFE (Teflon) is degraded by heat (pyrolysis) it can form PFOA as a minor product. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has compiled a list of 615 chemicals that have the potential to break down into perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA) including PFOA. However, not all 615 have the potential to break down to form PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: A majority of waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) that have been tested output more PFOA than is input, and this increased output has been attributed to the biodegradation of fluorotelomer alcohols. A current PFOA precursor concern are fluorotelomer-based polymers; fluorotelomer alcohols attached to hydrocarbon backbones via ester linkages may detach and be free to biodegrade to PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Food, drinking water, outdoor air, indoor air, dust, and food packagings are all implicated as sources of PFOA to people. However, it is unclear which exposure routes dominate because of data gaps. When water is a source, blood levels are approximately 100 times higher than drinking water levels.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: People who lived in the PFOA-contaminated area around DuPont's Washington Works facility were found to have higher levels of PFOA in their blood from drinking water. The highest PFOA levels in drinking water were found in the Little Hocking water system, with an average concentration of 3.55 parts per billion during 2002–2005. Individuals who drank more tap water, ate locally grown fruits and vegetables, or ate local meat, were all associated with having higher PFOA levels. Residents who used water carbon filter systems had lower PFOA levels.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is also formed as an unintended byproduct in the production of fluorotelomers and is present in finished goods treated with fluorotelomers, including those intended for food contact. Fluorotelomers are applied to food contact papers because they are lipophobic: they prevent oil from soaking into the paper from fatty foods. Also, fluorotelomers can be metabolized into PFOA. In a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) study, lipophobic fluorotelomer-based paper coatings (which can be applied to food contact paper in the concentration range of 0.4%) were found to contain 88,000–160,000 parts per billion PFOA before application, while the oil from microwave popcorn bags contained 6–290 parts per billion PFOA after heating. Toxicologists estimate that microwave popcorn could account for about 20% of the PFOA levels measured in an individual consuming 10 bags a year if 1% of the fluorotelomers are metabolized to PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2008 as news stories began to raise concerns about PFOA in microwaved popcorn, Dan Turner, DuPont's global public relations chief, said, "I serve microwave popcorn to my three-year-old." Five years later, journalist Peter Laufer wrote to Turner to ask if his child was still eating microwave popcorn. "I am not going to comment on such a personal inquiry", Turner replied.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Fluorotelomer coatings are used in fast food wrappers, candy wrappers, and pizza box liners. PAPS, a type of paper fluorotelomer coating, and PFOA precursor, is also used in food contact papers.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Despite DuPont's asserting that "cookware coated with DuPont Teflon non-stick coatings does not contain PFOA", residual PFOA was also detected in finished PTFE products including PTFE cookware (4–75 parts per billion). However, PFOA levels ranged from undetectable (<1.5) to 4.3 parts per billion in a more recent study. Also, non-stick cookware is heated—which should volatilize PFOA; PTFE products that are not heated, such as PTFE sealant tape, had higher (1800 parts per billion) levels detected. Overall, PTFE cookware is considered an insignificant exposure pathway to PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA and PFOS were detected in "very high" (low parts per million) levels in agricultural fields for grazing beef cattle and crops around Decatur, Alabama. The approximately 5000 acres of land were fertilized with "treated municipal sewage sludge, or biosolids". PFOA was also detected in fodder grass grown in these soils and the blood of the cattle feeding on this grass. The water treatment plant received process wastewater from a nearby perfluorochemical manufacturing plant. 3M says they managed their own wastes, but Daikin America "discharged process wastewater to the municipal waste treatment plant". If traced to meat, it would be the first time perfluorochemicals were traced from sludge to food. However, the USDA reported—with a detection limits of 20 parts per billion—non-detectable levels for both PFOA and PFOS in cattle muscle tissue.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is frequently found in household dust, making it an important exposure route for adults, but more substantially, children. Children have higher exposures to PFOA through dust compared to adults. Hand-to-mouth contact and proximity to high concentrations of dust make them more susceptible to ingestion, and increases PFOA exposure. One study showed significant positive associations were recognized between dust ingestion and PFOA serum concentrations. However, an alternate study found exposure due to dust ingestion was associated with minimal risk.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In the United States there are no federal drinking water standards for PFOA or PFOS as of early 2021. EPA began requiring public water systems to monitor for PFOA and PFOS in 2012, and published drinking water health advisories, which are non-regulatory technical documents, in 2016. The lifetime health advisories and health effects support documents assist federal, state, tribal, and local officials and managers of drinking water systems in protecting public health when these chemicals are present in drinking water. The levels of PFOS and PFOA concentrations under which adverse health effects are not anticipated to occur over a lifetime of exposure are 0.07 ppb (70 ppt). In March 2021 EPA announced that it would develop a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for these contaminants.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The State of New Jersey published drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS in 2020. A standard for PFNA was published in 2018. This was the first state to publish PFAS standards in the absence of federal regulations. "See" U.S. state government actions.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2018 the State of New York adopted drinking water standards of 10 ppt for PFOA and 10 ppt for PFOS, the most stringent such standards in the United States. The standards apply to public water systems and took effect in 2019 after a public comment period.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Using information gained through a Freedom of Information Act request, in May 2018 it was learned that January 2018 emails between the EPA, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services showed an effort to suppress the release of a draft report on the toxicology of PFOS and PFOA done by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The report found that these chemicals endanger human health at a far lower level than EPA has previously called safe. After media accounts of the effort surfaced, the regional EPA administrator for Colorado denied that EPA had anything to do with suppressing the report. The report was finally released on June 21, 2018.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The new ATSDR analysis derives provisional Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) of 3x10 mg/kg/day for PFOA and 2x10 mg/kg/day for PFOS during intermediate exposure. The European Food Safety Authority opinion sets a provisional tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 6 x10 mg/kg body weight per week for PFOA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: An attempt to regulate PFOA in food packaging occurred in the US state of California in 2008. A bill, sponsored by State Senator Ellen Corbett and the Environmental Working Group, was passed in the house and senate that would have banned PFOA, PFOS, and seven or more related fluorinated carbon compounds in food packaging starting in 2010, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The bill would have affected fluorochemical manufacturers outside of the state. Schwarzenegger said the compound should be reviewed by the newly established, and more comprehensive, state program.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Fluorotelomer-based products have been shown to degrade to PFOA over periods of decades; these studies could lead EPA to require DuPont and others to reformulate products with a value over $1 billion.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is a possible carcinogen, a possible liver toxicant, a possible developmental toxicant, and a possible immune system toxicant, and also exerts hormonal effects including alteration of thyroid hormone levels at very high concentrations Animal studies show developmental toxicity from reduced birth size, physical developmental delays, endocrine disruption, and neonatal mortality. PFOA alters lipid metabolism. It is an agonist of PPARα and is a peroxisome proliferator in rodents contributing to a well understood form of oxidative stress. Humans are considered less susceptible to peroxisome proliferation than rodents. However, PFOA has been found to be a liver carcinogen in rainbow trout via a potential estrogenic mechanism, which may be more relevant to humans.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA has been described as a member of a group of "classic non-genotoxic carcinogens". However, a provisional German assessment notes that a 2005 study found PFOA to be genotoxic via a peroxisome proliferation pathway that produced oxygen radicals in HepG2 cells, and a 2006 study demonstrated the induction and suppression of a broad range of genes; therefore, it states that the indirect genotoxic (and thus carcinogenic) potential of PFOA "cannot" be dismissed. An additional study has shown PFOA to be developmentally toxic, hepatotoxic, immunotoxic, and to have negative effects of thyroid hormone production. Criteria have been proposed that would allow PFOA, and other perfluorinated compounds, to be classified as "weakly non-specific genotoxic".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2018, an in vitro toxicology study analyzed the disruptor effect of PFOS and PFOA on porcine ovarian cell steroidogenesis. Specifically, the study focused on secretion in porcine theca and granulosa cells, controlling gonadotropic stimulation. Five ovaries were obtained and dissected to collect theca and granulosa cells.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The experimental design included: evaluation of PFOS and PFOA on basal steroid secretion, stimulation of LH on theca cells and FSH on granulosa cells, effect of PFOS and PFOA on steroidogenesis in the stimulated cells, quantification of steroid hormones by chemiluminescence, protein content determination, statistical analysis.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The treatment groups had 9 data points each, from which the mean and standard deviation were calculated. The control group had 15 data points. A multi-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test were used for the concentrations of P4, A4 and E2. The two groups were compared using a Student's "t", with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Results show the disruptor effect of PFOS and PFOA depends on cell type. PFOS and PFOA inhibit the secretion of steroid hormones in both theca cells and granulosa cells with gonadotropic stimulus. In cells without gonadotropic stimulus, PFOS inhibit theca cells but not granulosa, while PFOA inhibit granulosa cells but not theca. These differences are explained by the different types of PPARs in cell type. The study used concentrations below the range found in human blood circulation, suggesting that this may occur in human population. These results indicated PFOS and PFOA act as endocrine disruptors on ovarian cells which could affect subsequent sexual steroids.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA is resistant to degradation by natural processes such as metabolism, hydrolysis, photolysis, or biodegradation and has been found to persist in the environment. PFOA is found in environmental and biological fluids as the anion perfluorooctanoate. PFOA can be absorbed from ingestion and can penetrate skin. The acid headgroup of PFOA enables binding to proteins with fatty acid or hormone substrates such as serum albumin, liver fatty acid-binding protein, and the nuclear receptors PPARα and possibly CAR.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In animals, PFOA is mainly present in the liver, blood, and kidneys. PFOA does not accumulate in fat tissue, unlike traditional organohalogen persistent organic pollutants. In humans, PFOA has an average elimination half-life of about three years. Because of this long half-life, PFOA has the potential to bioaccumulate.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The levels of PFOA exposure in humans vary widely. While an average American might have 3 or 4 parts per billion of PFOA present in their blood serum, individuals occupationally exposed to PFOA have had blood serum levels over 100,000 parts per billion (100 parts per million or 0.01%) recorded. In a study of individuals living around DuPont's Washington Works plant, those who had no occupational exposure had a median blood serum level of 329 parts per billion while the median of those with occupational exposure was 775 parts per billion. While no amount of PFOA in humans is legally recognized as harmful, DuPont was "not satisfied" with data showing their Chinese workers accumulated an average of about 2,250 parts per billion of PFOA in their blood from a starting average of around 50 parts per billion less than a year prior.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In late 2012, scientists at Emory University compared health risks in workers at a DuPont chemical plant in West Virginia with high PFOA exposure to the risks of the same diseases in other regional DuPont factory workers and in the US population. In comparison with the other DuPont workers, workers at the high-PFOA plant were at roughly three times the risk of dying of mesothelioma or chronic kidney disease, and roughly twice the risk of dying of diabetes mellitus. Workers were at similarly elevated risk for kidney cancer and for non-cancer kidney diseases. In rodents, PFOA concentrates in the kidneys.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Single cross-sectional studies on consumers have been published noting multiple associations. Blood serum levels of PFOA were associated with an increased time to pregnancy—or "infertility"—in a 2009 study. PFOA exposure was associated with decreased semen quality, increased serum alanine aminotransferase levels, and increased occurrence of thyroid disease. In a study of 2003–2004 US samples, a higher (9.8 milligram per deciliter) total cholesterol level was observed when the highest quartile was compared to the lowest. Along with other related compounds, PFOA exposure was associated with an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a study of US children aged 12–15. In a paper presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, PFOA appeared to act as an endocrine disruptor by a potential mechanism on breast maturation in young girls. A C8 Science Panel status report noted an association between exposure in girls and a later onset of puberty.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Extensive research on PFOA and its role in the causal pathway of cancers exists for animals, however human studies are rare—most studies are mortality studies, which have small sample sizes.  A longitudinal study focused on residents living in Mid-Ohio Valley concluded that PFOA concentrations are positively associated with kidney and testicular cancers [hazard ratio = 1.10 and 1.34, respectively, for a 1-unit increase in log-transformed serum PFOA]. The study consisted of 32,254 residents with 2,507 reported cancer diagnoses occurring during study period. PFOA serum concentrations were measured at baseline and three to six year follow-up meetings. Retrospective yearly PFOA serum levels were estimated for each subject from 1952 through 2011.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Initial subject recruitment was performed using eligibility criteria and surveys—subjects were eligible if they lived or worked in one of the six contaminated water districts for at least one year between 1950 and December 3, 2004. Follow-up surveys were administered and remaining subjects (completion of at least one survey) were then included in the analysis dataset—selection bias was assessed and the final subjects did not differ significantly from the original population.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Retrospective PFOA serum concentrations were calculated using the published method of Shin et al. 2011a, 2011b). Historical regional data including emission rates by the DuPont facility, temporal patterns and groundwater flow are incorporated in the model as well as individual specific occupational exposure level was included. A job-exposure matrix was developed to assess estimated PFOA levels for workers across times and job roles.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Incident data was self-reported by study participants and followed up with a medical chart review. Cancer diagnoses were verified using Ohio/West Virginia cancer registries.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: A proportional hazards regression model was used for each cancer type with the cancer as the outcome and PFOA serum level included as a time-varying covariate. Participants were followed from age 20 (or age in 1952) to the age of cancer diagnosis. Models were adjusted for time-varying- smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as sex, education and five-year birth cohort. The outcome of PFOA serum level was log-transformed due to the scarcity of very high cumulative exposure values.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Participants who worked at the DuPont facility had higher PFOA serum levels and higher estimated annual PFOA levels than subjects who never worked at the facility. After cancer diagnosis validation, thyroid, kidney and testicular cancer risk were found to increase with an increase in the PFOA serum concentration (log-transformed), with testicular cancer being significantly associated (α =0.05). The results are consistent with previous mortality analyses performed using DuPont data. There is a positive exposure-response trend for cancer incidence and PFOA serum levels. Kidney and testicular cancer are of interest given that animal studies have found that PFOA is distributed mainly in the kidneys and because PFOA has been found to induce testicular tumors in rats.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Due to the fact that PFOA is able to readily pass through the placental barrier, exposure is of particular concern during in utero development. Numerous studies have analyzed the impacts of PFOA on fetal development of reproductive organs. One study that followed a Danish pregnancy cohort suggests that in utero exposure to PFOA could be associated with lower levels of sperm concentration and total sperm count in adult males, reduced testicular size, and higher adjusted levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. In utero PFOA exposure is also demonstrated to impact female development. For example, a study following a Danish population-based cohort found a 5.3 month later age of menarche in girls exposed to higher levels of PFOA in utero. Delayed onset of menarche is associated with lower bone mineral density and may have psychosocial impacts.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA exposure on thyroid function has also been a topic of concern, and has found to negatively impact thyroid stimulating hormone even at low levels when exposed during fetal development. PFOA is also shown to have obesogenic effects, and an experimental study found a positive correlation to low-dose prenatal exposure of PFOA and prevalence of overweight and high waist circumference in females at age 20. A correlation between in utero PFOA exposure and mental performance has yet to be established, as many studies have resulted in insignificant results. For example, a study conducted near Parkersburg, West Virginia did not find a significant association between in utero PFOA exposure and performance of math skills or reading performance in children ages 6 to 12 living in the PFOA-contaminated water district. Based on a cohort study conducted in the Mid-Ohio Valley, no clear association was found between prenatal exposure to PFOA and birth defects, although a possible association with brain defects was observed and requires further research and assessment.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA has been associated with signs of reduced fetal growth including lower birth weight. However, other studies have not replicated the lower birth weight finding including a study on the DuPont exposed community. Extrapolated epidemiological data suggests a slight association between PFOA exposure and low birth weight. This was consistent based on blood levels of PFOA metabolites regardless of the geographic residence of subjects. Generally, the findings among human fetuses exposed to the chemical were considerably less drastic than what was seen in mice studies. Because of this, studies linking exposure to low birth weight can be considered inconclusive. PFOA exposure in the Danish general population was not associated with an increased risk of prostate, bladder, pancreatic, or liver cancer. Maternal PFOA levels were not associated with an offspring's increased risk of hospitalization due to infectious diseases, behavioral and motor coordination problems, or delays in reaching developmental milestones.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2010, the three members of the C8 Science Panel published a review of the epidemiological evidence on PFOA exposure in "Environmental Health Perspectives". Insufficient evidence exists to conclude PFOA causes adverse health effects in humans, but consistent evidence exists on associations with higher cholesterol and uric acid. Whether or not these potential effects result in an increase in cardiovascular disease is unknown. Further data on the 69,030 member cohort that is being studied by the panel is scheduled for release through 2012. A 2011 epidemiological study demonstrated "probable link" between PFOA and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, pre-eclampsia and ulcerative colitis.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: Facial birth defects, an effect observed in rat offspring, occurred with the children of two out of seven female DuPont employees from the Washington Works facility from 1979 to 1981. Bucky Bailey is one of the affected individuals; DuPont, however, does not accept any liability from the toxicity of PFOA. While 3M sent DuPont results from a study that showed birth defects to rats administered PFOA and DuPont moved the women out of the Teflon production unit, subsequent animal testing led DuPont to conclude there was no reproductive risk to women, and they were returned to the production unit. However, data released in March 2009 on the community around DuPont's Washington Works plant showed "a modest, imprecise indication of an elevation in risk ... above the 90th percentile ... based on 12 cases in the uppermost category", which was deemed "suggestive of a possible relationship" between PFOA exposure and birth defects.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA was proposed for listing under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2015, and on May 10, 2019, PFOA, its salts, and PFOA-related compounds were added to Annex A of the Stockholm Convention by the Conference of the Parties. Several hundred salts and precursors of PFOA fall within the scope of the restriction. A few specific exemptions remained. Among them is a time-bound exemption for PFOA in fire-fighting foam.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: DuPont has used PFOA for over 50 years at its Washington Works plant. Area residents sued DuPont in August 2001 and claimed DuPont released PFOA in excess of their community guideline of 1 part per billion resulting in lower property values and increased risk of illness. The class was certified by Wood Circuit Court Judge George W. Hill. As part of the settlement, DuPont has paid for blood tests and health surveys of residents believed to be affected. Participants numbered 69,030 in the study, which was reviewed by three epidemiologists—the C8 Science Panel—to determine if any health effects are the likely result of exposure.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On December 13, 2005, DuPont announced a settlement with the EPA in which DuPont would pay US$10.25 million in fines and an additional US$6.25 million for two supplemental environmental projects without any admission of liability.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On September 30, 2008, Chief Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia denied the certification of a class of Parkersburg residents exposed to PFOA from DuPont's facility because they did not "show the common individual injuries needed to certify a class action". On September 28, 2009, Judge Goodwin dismissed the claims of those residents except for medical monitoring. By 2015, more than three thousand plaintiffs have filed personal-injury lawsuits against DuPont. In 2017, DuPont reached a $670.7 million cash settlement related to 3,550 personal injury lawsuits tied to PFOA contamination of drinking water in the Parkersburg area. Chemours, which was spun off from DuPont in 2015, agreed to pay half the settlement. Both companies denied any wrongdoing.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2002, a panel of toxicologists, including several from EPA, proposed a level of 150 ppb for drinking water in the PFOA contaminated area around DuPont's Washington Works plant. This initially proposed level was much higher than any known environmental concentration and was over 2,000 times the level EPA eventually settled on for the drinking water health advisory.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In July 2004, EPA filed a suit against DuPont alleging "widespread contamination" of PFOA near the Parkersburg, West Virginia plant "at levels exceeding the company's community exposure guidelines;" the suit also alleged that "DuPont had—over a 20 year period—repeatedly failed to submit information on adverse effects (in particular, information on liver enzyme alterations and birth defects in offspring of female Parkersburg workers)."


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In October 2005, a USFDA study was published revealing PFOA and PFOA precursor chemicals in food contact and PTFE products.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On January 25, 2006, EPA announced a voluntary program with several chemical companies to reduce PFOA and PFOA precursor emissions by the year 2015.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On February 15, 2005, EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) voted to recommended that PFOA should be considered a "likely human carcinogen".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On May 26, 2006, EPA's SAB addressed a letter to Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. Three-quarters of advisers thought the stronger "likely to be carcinogenic" descriptor was warranted, in opposition to EPA's own PFOA hazard descriptor of "suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On November 21, 2006, EPA ordered DuPont to offer alternative drinking water or treatment for public or private water users living near DuPont's Washington Works plant in West Virginia (and in Ohio), if the level of PFOA detected in drinking water is equal to or greater than 0.5 parts per billion. This measure sharply lowered the previous action level of 150 parts per billion that was established in March 2002.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: According to a May 23, 2007, "Environmental Science & Technology" Online article, U.S. Food and Drug Administration research regarding food contact papers as a potential source of PFOA to humans is ongoing.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In November 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published data on PFOA concentrations comparing 1999–2000 vs. 2003–2004 NHANES samples.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On May 19, 2016, EPA lowered the drinking water health advisory level to 0.07 ppb for PFOA and PFOS. In June 2022 the agency issued updated advisories, stating that "some negative health effects may occur with concentrations of PFOA or PFOS in water that are near zero and below EPA's ability to detect at this time." EPA also issued new health advisories for GenX and PFBS.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In March 2021 EPA announced that it will develop drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS in public water systems.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In October 2021 the EPA proposed to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances in its PFAS Strategic Roadmap. In September 2022 the EPA proposed to designate as hazardous substances under the Superfund Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2007 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced that it found PFOA at "elevated levels in the system's drinking water near DuPont's massive Chambers Works chemical plant".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2018 the state published a drinking water standard for PFNA. Public water systems in New Jersey are required to meet a maximum contaminant level (MCL) standard of 13 ppt.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2019 New Jersey filed lawsuits against the owners of two plants that had manufactured PFASs (the Chambers Works and the Parlin plant in Sayreville), and two plants that were cited for water pollution from other chemicals. The companies cited are DuPont, Chemours and 3M.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2018 the New York State Department of Health adopted drinking water standards of 10 ppt for PFOA and 10 ppt for PFOS, effective in 2019 after a public comment period.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In November 2017, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) was created to address growing pollution concerns after multiple sites contaminated by PFAS were identified. MPART is a multi-agency team tasked with investigating PFAS contamination sites and sources in the state, protecting drinking water, enhancing interagency communication and keeping the public informed.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In January 2018, Michigan established a legally enforceable groundwater cleanup level of 70 ppt for both PFOA and PFOS. Two science advisory committees were also created and joined MPART to "coordinate and review medical and environmental health, PFAS science and develop evidence-based recommendations".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In August 2020, the Michigan Department Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy adopted stricter drinking water standards in the form of MCLs, lowering acceptable levels from the 2018 enforceable groundwater cleanup levels of 70 ppt to 8 ppt for PFOA and 16 ppt for PFOS and adding MCLs for 5 previously unregulated PFAS compounds PFNA, PFHxA, PFHxS, PFBS, and HFPO-DA.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In 2007, the Minnesota Department of Health lowered its Health Based Value for PFOA in drinking water from 1.0 ppb to 0.5 ppb, where "the sources are landfilled industrial wastes from a 3M manufacturing plant".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA contaminated waste was incorporated into soil improver and spread on agricultural land in Germany, leading to PFOA drinking water contamination of up to 0.519 parts per billion. The German Federal Environmental Agency issued guidelines for the sum of PFOA and PFOS concentrations in drinking water: 0.1 parts per billion for precaution and 0.3 parts per billion for a threshold. Residents were found to have a 6–8 factor increase of PFOA serum levels over unexposed Germans, with average PFOA concentrations in the 22–27 parts per billion range. An expert panel concluded that "concentrations were considered too low to cause overt adverse health effects in the exposed population".


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: In the Netherlands, after questions by members of Parliament, the minister of Environment ordered a study into the potential exposure to PFOA of people living in the vicinity of the DuPont factory in Dordrecht. The report was published in March 2016 and concluded that "prior to 2002 residents were exposed to levels of PFOA at which health effects could not be ruled out". As a result of this, the government commissioned several further studies, including blood tests and measurements in drinking water.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: PFOA was identified as a PBT substance in the EU in 2013. It was then included in the candidate list of substances of very high concern. In 2017, PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related substances were added to annex XVII (restriction) of the REACH Regulation.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: The EU adopted the listing of PFOA in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/784 of 8 April 2020 and introduced a limit value of 0,025 mg/kg for PFOA including its salts, and at 1 mg/kg for the individual PFOA-related compounds or a combination of those compounds. They also included some specific exemptions. Among them is a time-bound exemption for PFOA in fire-fighting foam.


title: Perfluorooctanoic acid

text: On August 10, 2016, Australian litigation funder IMF Bentham announced an agreement to fund a class action led by the law firm Gadens against the Australian Department of Defence for economic losses to homeowners, fishers, and farmers resulting from the use of aqueous film forming foam (containing PFOA) at RAAF Base Williamtown.


title: Annabelle Davis

text: Annabelle Davis (born 28 March 1997) is an English actress. She portrayed Sasha Bellman in the CBBC series "The Dumping Ground" from 2015 to 2022, and from 2023, she is set to play Lacey Lloyd in the Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks". She is the daughter of actor and TV presenter Warwick Davis and Samantha Davis.


title: Annabelle Davis

text: Annabelle is the daughter of Warwick Davis and Samantha Davis. Annabelle has a younger brother named Harrison and her older brothers Lloyd and George died in infancy. Annabelle inherited spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita from her father. Annabelle attended Sawtry Village Academy, where she took A-Levels in Media, Textiles, Art and IT. In June 2018, Davis was announced as a new patron for the Young People Counselling Service "YPCS"; YPCS have created 'The Annabelle Davis Centre', their first community hub.


title: Annabelle Davis

text: In 2011, Davis appeared in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" as a Naughty Goblin. She then joined the CBBC series "The Dumping Ground" as Sasha Bellman in 2015. She reprised the role of Sasha in spin-off series "", a webisode series. She has also appeared in two "Star Wars" films alongside her father. In 2022, after her final appearance on "The Dumping Ground" had aired, it was announced that Davis had been cast as Lacey Lloyd in the Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks". She is set to make her debut appearance in 2023.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The multiverse is a fictional setting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Based on the setting of the same name from the Marvel Comics, it is a collection of infinitely many alternate realities and dimensions. First explored in the film "Doctor Strange" (2016), it is revisited in the film "" (2019) before playing a key role in , , and of the franchise, which comprise "The Multiverse Saga".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Many alternate versions of existing MCU characters have been introduced via the multiverse, most notably those of Loki, Peter Parker / Spider-Man, and Dr. Stephen Strange. The main reality depicted in the MCU is designated Earth-616 in the film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022), despite previously being designated Earth-199999 by Marvel Comics. The multiverse has received a mixed response from critics, with praise for its visuals and nostalgic appeal but criticism of its excessive reliance on fan service. The incorporation of characters from non-MCU Marvel films has also generated speculation and discussion among viewers and commentators.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The multiverse was first introduced to the Marvel Comics during the 1960s and 70s. In "Strange Tales" #103 (1962), the character Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four is teleported to an alternate reality for the first time in Marvel history, with the character sent to the Fifth Dimension (later designated Earth-1612). The concept of the multiverse was then fully explored in "What If...?" #1 (1977) and "Marvel Two-in-One" #50 (1979), with the term "multiverse" first used in the "What If...?" series. The main reality featured in the comics, Earth-616, was first named in "The Daredevils" #7 (1983) by Captain Britain creator David Thorpe in order to differentiate the character from his alternate versions.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In 2008, the film "Iron Man" was released, kickstarting the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. The setting of the franchise was subsequently designated Earth-199999 by Marvel Comics in the hardcover version of the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z", Vol. 5 (2008). The characters Loki, Gwenpool, and Doctor Strange from the comics have been shown to be aware of the MCU's existence. The multiverse is introduced to the MCU in the film "Doctor Strange" (2016), with director Scott Derrickson noting that the character in the comics had previously "broke[n] open the Marvel comic book universe into the Marvel multiverse". At the time, producer and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated that there were no plans to explore parallel universes similar to the ones featured in the comics, with the film instead exploring various "alien dimensions".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The MCU multiverse is revisited in the film "" (2019), in which the Avengers journey to four alternate timelines as part of a "Time Heist". The escape of an alternate version of Loki from an alternate 2012 New York sets up the first season of the Disney+ series "Loki" (2021). The multiverse plays a central role in of the MCU, most notably in the first season of "Loki", the first and second seasons of the Disney+ series "What If...?" (2021 and 2023), the film "" (2021), and the film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022). Phase Four, , and of the MCU will comprise "The Multiverse Saga".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The showrunners of "Loki" collaborated with the crews behind the Disney+ series "WandaVision" (2021), "What If...?", and the film "" (2023), as all three projects are connected to the multiverse in some way. Together with "WandaVision" co-executive producer Mary Livanos and "What If...?" executive producer Brad Winderbaum, "Loki" executive producers Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard developed a "rule book" regarding the MCU's multiverse and alternate timelines. Feige also held a meeting with Marvel Studios executives to discuss the rules of the multiverse and how they would present it to audiences.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In "Doctor Strange", the term "multiverse" is used by the Masters of the Mystic Arts to describe the multitude of dimensions within the MCU. The character Ancient One brings Dr. Stephen Strange on a journey across the multiverse, passing by different universes and pocket realities, including the Quantum Realm introduced in the film "Ant-Man" (2015), the Mandelibus Dimension, the Actiniaria Dimension, the Flowering Incense Dimension, and the Grass Jelly Dimension. Internally referred to as the "Magical Mystery Tour" at Marvel Studios, the scene was originally seven minutes long. In an unrealized scene in the film "" (2018), Strange sends Thanos through a series of alternate universes, emulating the Magical Mystery Tour. The film most notably explores the Astral Dimension, the Dark Dimension, and the Mirror Dimension.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Astrophysicist Adam Frank was consulted on the depiction of the multiverse in "Doctor Strange", offering guidance on how to portray the dimensions in a scientific manner. Frank stated that he did not believe the multiverse exists in real life, but viewed it as a "great idea to use for fiction". He added that the film's depiction did not need to be scientifically accurate as long as it "[drew] from the way scientists think about reality and think about space and dimensions".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In "Endgame", the Avengers travel through the Quantum Realm in three groups to 1970 Camp Lehigh, 2012 New York, 2013 Asgard, as well as 2014 Morag and Vormir, in order to retrieve the six Infinity Stones displaced through time. The events of "The Avengers" (2012), "" (2013), and "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) are revisited in the film. The film establishes the rules of time travel in the MCU, rejecting the grandfather paradox and the butterfly effect which state that changes to the past will affect the future in the same timeline. Instead, the film stipulates that when the past or future is changed, it diverges from the main timeline into an alternate one, effectively creating a parallel universe.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: When Tony Stark / Iron Man and Scott Lang / Ant-Man attempt to acquire the Tesseract from 2012 New York, an alternate version of Loki escapes with the Tesseract. Alternate versions of Thanos, Gamora, and Nebula teleport from 2014 to the Avengers Compound in the present-day, leading to the Battle of Earth. Afterward, Steve Rogers / Captain America returns the Infinity Stones and Mjölnir to their original timelines, choosing to stay behind with an alternate version of Peggy Carter in 1949 and grow old with her. The directors and screenwriter of the film disagree on whether this was done in an alternate reality through time travel, or in the past in the main timeline.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The bulk of the sixth season of the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (2019) is set in an alternate timeline, in part due to the showrunners' uncertainty on whether the season would air before or after "Endgame".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In the film "" (2019), Quentin Beck / Mysterio claims to Peter Parker / Spider-Man that he and the Elementals are from an alternate reality in the multiverse named Earth-833, calling the main universe depicted in the MCU Earth-616. This is later revealed to be a ruse devised by Beck and his crew in order to gain revenge on Stark, their former employer. Additionally, J. K. Simmons appears in a mid-credits scene as J. Jonah Jameson after previously portraying the character in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, but director Jon Watts clarified that the character was a new incarnation and not "from another dimension or multiverse". Despite this, Feige confirmed that a multiverse indeed existed in the MCU.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The seventh season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (2020) follows a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they pursue the Chronicoms across time through "tides". The season focuses on the consequences of time travel and the resultant branching timelines, which partially contradicts the rules established by "Endgame". By the end of the season, a new timeline is created as a result of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team altering events in the past. The series finale, "What We're Fighting For", confirms that the events of the season had been taking place in a branched timeline, with Leo Fitz leading the team back to the MCU's main timeline through the Quantum Realm.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The concept of the multiverse is explored in depth for the first time in the first season of "Loki", which kicks off a multiverse-centric story arc in the MCU. The version of Loki who had escaped from 2012 New York during the events of "Endgame" is captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an otherworldly organization which monitors the multiverse. The series designates the main reality depicted in the MCU as the Sacred Timeline, with the TVA striving to maintain this flow of time in all universes by "pruning" alternate timelines that have significantly deviated from the Sacred Timeline, using reset charges. Loki, who is labeled a "time variant" by the TVA, is recruited to hunt down Sylvie, another alternate version of himself who has been ambushing TVA Minutemen in alternate timelines. After a skirmish at a 2050 Roxxon supermarket, the duo are forced to work together to escape 2077 Lamentis-1, a moon destined to be destroyed in an alternate timeline.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Additional variants of Loki are introduced in the Void, a barren dimension where individuals and objects are sent to after being pruned by the TVA. These include the elderly Classic Loki, the adolescent Kid Loki, the hammer-wielding Boastful Loki, and the repitilian Alligator Loki. In the season finale, "For All Time. Always.", Loki and Sylvie meet He Who Remains, a mysterious figure from the 31st century who ended a multiversal war between variants of himself before establishing the TVA. He is murdered by Sylvie, allowing universes to diverge from the Sacred Timeline and in turn leading to the unraveling of the multiverse. Loki also sees a statue of Kang the Conqueror, a malevolent time-traveling variant of He Who Remains who will appear in "Quantumania". In addition to that film, this episode sets up the events of "Multiverse of Madness" and "No Way Home".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: According to head writer Michael Waldron, the time travel rules established by "Endgame" are elaborated upon in the series, describing the multiverse as an overlapping cluster of intertwined timelines occurring at the same time. The Sacred Timeline is depicted as a circular shape when viewed from the Citadel at the End of Time, a concept conceived by the series' storyboard artists and thought by director Kate Herron to be a "striking image". Early concepts for the series included several other time periods which were ultimately not visited in the season. Feige has stated that the events of "Loki" would leave a significant lasting impact on the MCU, with Waldron adding that the series would have "wide-reaching ramifications" across the franchise.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The first season of "What If...?" explores numerous alternate realities that have deviated from the main timeline. The series is narrated by the Watcher, an almighty being who observes the multiverse without interfering. The alternate realities featured in the season include one where Carter becomes the super-soldier Captain Carter, one where T'Challa becomes Star-Lord, one where the Avengers are assassinated by Hank Pym / Yellowjacket during the events of the tie-in comic Fury's Big Week, one where Stephen Strange is corrupted by dark magic, one where Janet van Dyne / Wasp triggers a zombie apocalypse, one where Erik "Killmonger" Stevens rescues Stark before causing a war between Wakanda and the U.S., one where Thor was an only child and lives a party lifestyle, and one where Ultron uses the Infinity Stones to exterminate all life in the universe.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The Watcher refuses to intervene when the corrupted Strange pleads with him to save his collapsing universe, citing his oath not to do so. After failing to defeat the Infinity Stones-wielding Ultron, the Watcher breaks his oath and recruits six multiversal heroes to the Guardians of the Multiverse in an effort to save the multiverse. Head writer A. C. Bradley was uncertain of how "Loki" and "Multiverse of Madness" would depict the multiverse, as production on "What If..?" began well before those two projects did, thus deciding to leave most of the MCU's multiversal "rules-building" to the crews behind "Loki" and "Multiverse of Madness".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: "No Way Home" connects the MCU to Sony Pictures' other "Spider-Man" films, with multiple characters from alternate realities accidentally transported to the main timeline due to a miscast spell performed by Strange intended to erase the world's knowledge of Parker's identity as Spider-Man. Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, and Thomas Haden Church reprise their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus, Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, and Flint Marko / Sandman, respectively, from Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy; Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, and Rhys Ifans reprise their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Max Dillon / Electro, and Curt Connors / Lizard, respectively, from Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" films; while Tom Hardy reprises his roles as Eddie Brock and Venom from Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Many of these actors arrived on sets wearing cloaks in order to avoid leaks of their involvement.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In the film, Parker refuses to send Octavius, Osborn, Marko, Dillon, and Connors to their deadly fates in their original realities, trapping Strange in the Mirror Dimension. After all but Octavius go rogue, Parker is joined by his alternate counterparts, dubbed "Peter-Two" (Maguire) and "Peter-Three" (Garfield), in developing cures for the multiversal villains. During a battle in front of the Statue of Liberty, the destruction of Strange's "Macchina di Kadavus" begins to tear the fabric of reality, forcing Strange to erase the world's memories of Parker before sending the multiversal characters back to their own universes. Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers began exploring the idea of the multiverse and potentially revisiting characters from past "Spider-Man" films early on during the writing process, initially planning for this to be a minor tease for fans. Early drafts had featured virtually every major character from previous "Spider-Man" films, but this was eventually narrowed down to avoid excessive fan service. Almost all of the multiversal villains were redesigned at some level for the film: Osborn and Dillon were given more comics-accurate appearances, while Molina and Dafoe were both digitally de-aged.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The plot of "Multiverse of Madness" revolves entirely around the multiverse. The film introduces the character America Chavez, a teenager from the Utopian Parallel who can teleport between universes through star-shaped portals. In the opening of the film, Chavez and an alternate version of Strange from Earth-617 battle a demon in the Gap Junction, a space between universes, before Chavez escapes to the main MCU reality. The attire worn by this version of Strange was modeled after Matt Fraction's "Defenders" (2011) comic book series. Chavez and Strange are later seen crashing through 20 different universes, which include a world inhabited by statues resembling the Marvel Comics character Living Tribunal, an animated world with a comic-book style appearance, a destroyed New York City in the aftermath of an alternate Battle of New York, a world composed of Stark Industries combat drones from "Far From Home", the dinosaur-inhabited Savage Land from the comics, and a black-and-white New York City stuck in the 1930s after being taken over by Hydra. Visual effects for the 40-second-long sequence were provided by Framestore, which initiated development nearly a year-and-a-half before the film's release. The company refers to the sequence as the "America Portal Ride", with head animator Alexis Wajsbrot seeking to "echo the craziness" of "Doctor Strange" Magical Mystery Tour.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The duo is subsequently captured by the Illuminati, a secret society of superhumans, in Earth-838. The group includes Karl Mordo, Captain Carter, Blackagar Boltagon / Black Bolt, Maria Rambeau / Captain Marvel, Reed Richards, and Professor Charles Xavier, who are portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hayley Atwell, Anson Mount, Lashana Lynch, John Krasinski, and Patrick Stewart, respectively. Ejiofor, Atwell, Lynch, and Mount all reprise their roles from prior MCU media, while Stewart reprises his role from 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" film series. However, they all play alternate versions of their characters separate from their original roles. Mount dons a more comics-accurate costume than his appearance in the ABC series "Inhumans" (2017), while Lynch was surprised when she learned she would be playing an alternate version of Rambeau, initially believing she would be portraying an ancestor of Rambeau. Feige cast Krasinski in the role because he was a highly popular suggestion for the role from fans, with his appearance replacing a planned cameo appearance by Daniel Craig as Balder the Brave. Stewart uses a yellow wheelchair akin to the one seen in "" (1992–1997) and utters a line from "" (2014). His involvement in the film was first confirmed in the film's second trailer, though it was unclear whether he would be playing Xavier. Waldron, who wrote this film's script, was unable to include Namor as part of the Illuminati because Marvel Studios had other plans for him; the character would later appear in the film "" (2022).


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Also appearing in the film is a version of Strange who has been corrupted by the "Darkhold" and has a third eye. The main MCU reality is designated Earth-616 by an alternate version of Christine Palmer from Earth-838, a scientist working for the Baxter Foundation. According to actress Rachel McAdams, Palmer's role as a "multiversal expert" allowed her to have more action sequences than in the first film, and her interactions with Earth-616's Strange helped resolve the love story between him and Earth-616's Palmer. Early versions of the film had featured another alternate version of Palmer as well as Earth-838 versions of Nicodemus West and Hope van Dyne / Wasp, but these were cut. Tom Hiddleston was reported to return as Loki, but was absent from the final film. The film introduces several multiverse-related concepts to the MCU. Early on in the film, dreams are revealed to be visions of one's alternate counterparts in the multiverse. Maximoff and Strange later engage in "dreamwalking", a "mentally [and] physically exhausting spell" in which one possesses one's multiversal counterpart using the "Darkhold". Additionally, "incursions" are established as universe-ending events which occur when one leaves a large footprint in an alternate reality, causing the connection between both universes to destabilize and resulting in the destruction of one or both of the universes.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The film's focus on the multiverse was revealed at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with the announcement of the film's title and release date. Explaining the subtitle "Multiverse of Madness", co-producer Richie Palmer stated that the film would explore the definitions of the word "madness" as well as inner demons, while Feige stated his intention to explore the "mind-bending frightening side" of the multiverse. The cast found it difficult to keep track of the different realities of the multiverse. Waldron also sought to avoid excessive fan service, and had to "move fast" regarding the multiverse due to "Multiverse of Madness" being a film and not a television series. Feeling that his work on the series "Rick and Morty" (2013–present) had prepared him with introducing concepts like the multiverse, he added that "Multiverse of Madness" depiction of the multiverse differed from the aforementioned series in that the alternate realities were not solely played for laughs, instead viewing the multiverse as the emotional centerpiece of the film. Waldron chose to write Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch as the film's antagonist instead of a multiverse-related villain such as Kang because he did not want the film to be "overstuffed", and decided to introduce the Illuminati so the film could "find the madness in the multiverse". As "Multiverse of Madness" was originally intended to be released before "No Way Home", Waldron worked with McKenna and Sommers to adjust the plot of the film accordingly after "Multiverse of Madness" was delayed. Feige described the multiverse as "the next step in the evolution of the MCU", noting that this film would also have significant repercussions on the MCU.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Earth-616, also known as the Sacred Timeline, is the main reality depicted in the MCU. With the exception of "Loki" and "What If...?", Earth-616 has been the primary setting of all MCU films, television series, and One-Shots. Despite having been designated as Earth-199999 by Marvel Comics in 2008, "Multiverse of Madness" establishes the MCU as Earth-616, sharing the name with the primary setting of the comics. Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore previously referred to the main MCU universe as Earth-616 in November 2021, and Feige began using the term internally prior to the release of "Multiverse of Madness". In addition to Beck's ruse in "Far From Home", a reference to the "616 universe" can be seen on Erik Selvig's chalkboard in "The Dark World".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The Avengers visit New York City in an alternate 2012 during the Battle of New York in "Endgame". While Bruce Banner / Smart Hulk implores the Ancient One to relinquish the Time Stone, Rogers intercepts a S.T.R.I.K.E. team and acquires Loki's scepter containing the Mind Stone. Stark and Lang attempt to thieve the Tesseract from Stark's alternate counterpart, but the plan goes awry and Loki escapes with the Tesseract. In "Loki", this reality is "reset" by the TVA and the alternate Loki is arrested.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: During the Avengers' Time Heist in "Endgame", Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Clint Barton / Hawkeye, James Rhodes / War Machine, and Nebula time-travel to an alternate Morag in 2014. Romanoff and Barton depart on the "Benatar" to Vormir to acquire the Soul Stone, in which Romanoff sacrifices herself. Meanwhile, Rhodes and Nebula successfully acquire the Orb containing the Power Stone, but Nebula is captured by the 2014 Thanos. Later, 2014 Thanos and his warship, the "Sanctuary II", are teleported to the Avengers Compound in 2023, leading to a major battle between Thanos' forces and the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Masters of the Mystic Arts, Wakandans, Asgardians, and Ravagers. An alternate version of Gamora from 2014 betrays Thanos and joins 2023 Nebula, later disappearing from the battlefield. She will return in the film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023).


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In a reality first explored in "What If... Zombies?!", Pym rescues Janet from the Quantum Realm as he did in the film "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018), only to discover that Janet has been infected with a quantum virus which transformed her into a zombie. This leads to a zombie apocalypse, with many Avengers turned into zombies, including Stark, Strange, Wong, Barton, Happy Hogan, Sam Wilson / Falcon, Sharon Carter / Agent 13, Rogers, and Maximoff. This reality will be revisited in "Marvel Zombies", in which additional characters are revealed to have transformed into zombies, including Emil Blonsky / Abomination, Ava Starr / Ghost, Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Okoye, and Ikaris.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The episode "What If... Ultron Won?" of the first season of "What If...?" is centered on an alternate reality where Ultron transfers his consciousness into the Vision's body, acquires the Infinity Stones from Thanos, and wipes out all life in the universe. This leads into the first-season finale, "What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?", in which the Watcher assembles six multiversal characters from the previous episodes to the Guardians of the Multiverse, and Ultron is defeated. The animators utilized an artistic effect called the Kirby Krackle in these two episodes in order to demonstrate the multiversal power of Ultron and the Watcher, which Bradley was adamant on including due to it never have been used before in the MCU.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: "No Way Home" features characters from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" film series, with many actors reprising their roles from the trilogy. The version of Parker from this universe, dubbed "Peter-Two", uses organic webbing instead of web shooters like his alternate counterparts, and maintains a complicated relationship with love interest Mary Jane Watson. Three of Parker's villains, which include Osborn, Octavius, and Marko, are transported to Earth-616 as well.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: "No Way Home" also features characters from Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" film series, with many actors reprising their roles from the duology. The version of Parker from this universe, dubbed "Peter-Three", reels from the death of girlfriend Gwen Stacy in the film "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014), holding himself responsible for his failure to save her. Two of Parker's villains, which include Connors and Dillon, are transported to Earth-616 as well.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Earth-838 is first introduced in "Multiverse of Madness". It is most notably the home to the Illuminati, a secret society founded by an alternate version of Strange. After causing an "incursion" of another reality as a byproduct of using the "Darkhold" to defeat Thanos, Strange is executed by Boltagon on Titan, and he is succeeded by Mordo as one of the members of the Illuminati. The Illuminati was formed in the wake of the Ultron program's success and the Avengers' subsequent retirement. Other notable inhabitants of Earth-838 include Palmer, Maximoff, her children Billy and Tommy, and various Ultron sentries. The Ultron sentries are voiced by Ross Marquand, reprising his role from "What If...?" in which he replaced James Spader from the film "" (2015).


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The Magical Mystery Tour sequence in "Doctor Strange" was praised by critics, with Umberto Gonzales of "TheWrap" calling it a "trippy psychedelic thrill ride" and Britt Hayes of "ScreenCrush" describing it as "astounding, elaborate stuff". On the time travel-centric plot of "Endgame", Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" found it clichéd but distinctive, while Peter Debruge of "Variety" called it the "most desperate of narrative cheats". Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" felt that the use of time travel sacrificed consistency for nostalgia-arousing fan service. Following reports that "No Way Home" would involve the multiverse, Adam B. Vary of "Variety" felt that the multiverse could allow Tom Holland, who portrays Parker in the MCU, to appear in the SSU. Graeme McMillian of "The Hollywood Reporter" speculated whether the Fantastic Four and X-Men would enter the MCU through the multiverse, while Hoai-Tran Bui of "/Film" questioned whether the addition of multiversal characters would overshadow Holland's performance in "No Way Home". Following the film's release, Benjamin Lee of "The Guardian" applauded Watts for bringing back numerous "Spider-Man" villains, while John DeFore of "The Hollywood Reporter" believed that the multiversal plot point addressed the "Iron Man-ification of the character" in prior MCU "Spider-Man" films. Lee and DeFore also noted the level of fan service present in the film, which was echoed by Bilge Ebiri of "Vulture" and Don Kaye of "Den of Geek".


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The depiction of the multiverse in "Multiverse of Madness" garnered a mixed response from critics. Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" believed that the film's approach to the multiverse allowed the filmmakers to pose intriguing philosophical questions, contrasting this to the multiverse's depiction in the film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022). "TheWrap" reviewer Alonso Duralde felt that "Multiverse of Madness" failed to achieve "Everything Everywhere All at Once" level of "wit and nerve and character", but commended the America Portal Ride scene as "memorably trippy". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" was entertained by the America Portal Ride scene, but felt that the concept of the multiverse reduced the overall story's stakes. DeFore, who also reviewed this film, criticized the MCU's multiverse as a "rapidly aging plot device" and a "franchise-sustaining crutch". David Ehrlich of "IndieWire" voiced frustration over the fact that the film only focused on two parallel universes despite its title, further ridiculing Earth-838's unusual characteristics. "Collider" Ross Bonaime, and "The Atlantic" David Sims, and "The Mary Sue" Princess Weekes all criticized the film's excessive use of fan service. Writing for "RogerEbert.com", Brian Tallerico also praised the America Portal Ride sequence, but was disappointed that the film failed to fully tap into the potential of the multiverse. Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" questioned the logic of the MCU's multiverse.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The introduction of the concept of incursions in "Multiverse of Madness" led several commentators to believe that Marvel Studios was setting up for an adaptation of "Secret Wars" (2015), in which incursions play a key role. Evaluating the direction of the MCU, Vary noted the prevalence of the multiverse and the introduction of Kang as a potential "big bad". Feige later revealed that recent MCU projects contained hints as to where the franchise was heading, igniting further speculation.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Evan Peters appears in the ending of the episode "On a Very Special Episode..." of "WandaVision" as "Pietro Maximoff", after previously portraying Peter Maximoff in Fox's "X-Men" films. The character was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in "Age of Ultron", with the character Darcy Lewis noting that Pietro had been "recast" in the fictional "WandaVision" show-within-a-show sitcom. This appearance was widely discussed by commentators, who declared it an exciting surprise. Many critics believed that this set the stage for the multiverse to be explored in future Phase Four properties. In the series finale, "The Series Finale", Peters' character is revealed to actually be Ralph Bohner, a resident of Westview who is being controlled by Agatha Harkness and impersonating Pietro. This twist was met with a mixed response from critics. Matt Purslow of "IGN" was disappointed that viewers' speculation did not pay off, calling this an "unfair trick from Marvel", while his colleague Carlos Morales criticized the casting as unnecessary and hollow. On the other hand, Stephen Robinson of "The A.V. Club" felt that this was an "elegantly simple and self-contained" reveal. Chancellor Agard of "Entertainment Weekly" and Daniel Gillespie of "Screen Rant" concurred, with Agard relieved that Peters' character was not the same version from the "X-Men" films and Gillespie praising the casting as a way to generate discussion. "Variety" Vary thought this was a "really good joke", but noted how the apparent "multiverse shenanigans" had caused fan speculation to run rampant. Many viewers voiced their frustration online over Peters' character being reduced to a dick joke.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Maguire and Garfield's appearances in "No Way Home" were kept secret until the film's release, with Holland repeatedly denying that they were in the film. Garfield also dispelled reports of his involvement in the film, while director Jon Watts declined to confirm that Octavius, Dillon, Osborn, Marko, and Connors would return in the film. Feige cautioned fans about rumors, warning that they could be disappointed if they proved to be false. As a result, reports of the aforementioned characters' return generated intense speculation and interest online. "Multiverse of Madness" had a similar level of speculation as "No Way Home" prior to its release, with many viewers theorizing that non-MCU Marvel characters would appear in the film. Many of these rumors did not pan out, with the notable exception of Stewart, who initially denied his involvement before admitting it. Waldron expressed interest in the rumor that Tom Cruise would portray an alternate version of Iron Man, but stated that Cruise was never approached due to his filming commitments to "" (2023) and "" (2024). Ryan Reynolds, who portrays Wade Wilson / Deadpool in Fox's "X-Men" films, rejected claims that he would appear in the film, but Waldron revealed that discussions were held regarding whether to include a cameo appearance by him. Roger Cheng of "CNET" was disappointed by the Illuminati cameos in "Multiverse of Madness" due to their limited screentime, opining that the cameos failed to elicit the same feeling of excitement as "No Way Home" did. Similarly, Kirsten Acuna of "Insider" dismissed the cameos as "gimmicky fan service" and a missed opportunity. Belen Edwards of "Mashable" argued the opposite, believing that the Illuminati's quick and brutal death sequences were a "nice change of pace" from "No Way Home" level of fan service.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Waldron warned of the danger of using the multiverse as a plot device in the MCU, believing that the stakes of the story could be reduced "if you don't make it personal". Joe Russo, who co-directed "Endgame" with his brother Anthony, cautioned that an overabundance of multiverse-centric films could lead to adverse results, calling on screenwriters to "push back" against film studios' corporate agendas. "" (2019) director Tim Miller felt that "Endgame" depiction of time travel was inferior to that of the "Terminator" franchise because it lowered the story's stakes.


title: Multiverse (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The mid-credits scene of the SSU film "" (2021) sees Brock and Venom being transported to the MCU through the multiverse as a result of Strange's first spell in "Spider-Man: No Way Home". Feige stated that this scene was the product of significant collaboration between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, and was directed by "No Way Home" director Jon Watts during the production of that film. After the release of "Let There Be Carnage", many commentators expected Hardy to reprise his roles in "No Way Home", with the character ultimately appearing in the film's mid-credits scene. Audiences reacted positively to "Let There Be Carnage" mid-credits scene, though William Hughes of "The A.V. Club" and Vinnie Mancuso of "Collider" both noted how the scene overshadowed the rest of the film.