It’s always nice to see environmentally responsible actions being taken by a huge corporation (or one of any size, actually). 3M is phasing out production of many of its Scotchguard products. The perfluorooctanyl chemistry used in the production of these repellents has stuck around in the environment. This “persistent compound, like other materials in the environment, can be detected broadly at extremely low levels in the enviroment and in people.” While they claim there is no current risk, continued production of these products would certainly raise the amount of this compound in the environment. They are working on a sustainable replacement.