Cases / Chemical pollution · Netherlands · 2021–2026
Dutch prosecutors declined to charge over Chemours Dordrecht birth-defect complaints
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Forty-four women workers alleged that the solvent dimethylacetamide (DMAc) at the Dordrecht plant caused miscarriages and birth anomalies; prosecutors declined to prosecute in 2021. A criminal investigation into PFOA emissions was at an advanced stage in February 2026, according to the Dutch prosecution service.
What?
Dutch prosecutors declined in 2021 to prosecute over alleged DMAc-linked miscarriages and birth anomalies reported by 44 women workers at the Dordrecht plant. DutchNews
Where?
Dordrecht, Netherlands DutchNews
When?
Prosecutor decision reported 25 January 2021; Custom Powders statement dated 5 February 2026 DutchNews
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
None on recordHarmed
- 44 women workers at the Dordrecht plant — Alleged miscarriages and birth anomalies; no prosecution followed DutchNews
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Prosecutors reviewed the complaint and did not charge. The bankrupt Custom Powders cannot be prosecuted, and the PFOA investigation continued into 2026. Openbaar Ministerie
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In January 2021 Dutch prosecutors decided not to prosecute over a complaint by 44 women who alleged that DMAc caused miscarriages and birth anomalies (DutchNews, 25 January 2021).
On 5 February 2026 the Dutch prosecution service said there would be no new investigation into Custom Powders, a bankrupt company that cannot be prosecuted (Openbaar Ministerie).
A separate criminal investigation into PFOA emissions, called 'Dahlia', was at an advanced stage in February 2026.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a Rotterdam court ruled on 27 September 2023 that Chemours was responsible for PFOA releases from 1984 to 1998 and that permit applications hid information (marked H).
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: about 2,400 to 3,000 complainants in the PFOA investigation.
- None on record The sources reviewed give no compensation paid to the women and no sentence against any individual.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not give Chemours' costs or gains from the Dordrecht plant.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Report on prosecutors' decision on Dordrecht birth-defect complaintDutchNews · 2021-01-25
- Geen nieuw onderzoek naar Custom Powders na aangifteOpenbaar Ministerie · 2026-02-05
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- Chemours (Company) — here: Operator of the Dordrecht plant; there: 2015 spin-off; shares PFAS settlements
- DuPont, Chemours and Corteva: PFAS cost-sharing and water-system settlement United States · 2015–2025
- Chemours (Company) — here: Operator of the Dordrecht plant; there: Spun off from DuPont in 2015; bears half of the cost sharing; party to the water-systems fund; insured
- GenX chemical found in Cape Fear River, a DuPont and Chemours replacement for PFOA United States · 2009
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- PFAS insurance disputes (3M, Chemours, DuPont) United States · 2020–2026
- Chemours (Company) — here: Operator of the Dordrecht plant; there: Policyholder; arbitration claimant against insurers
- PFAS water utility settlements by 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva United States · 2023–2036
- Chemours (Company) — here: Operator of the Dordrecht plant; there: Co-party to the June 2023 water-systems settlement; alleged understated liability at separation