October marks American Archives Month, a celebration of the importance of preserving history and raising public awareness about accessing archived materials. To celebrate, we are spotlighting several smaller (under 2,000 documents) but highly influential collections archived by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Industry Documents Library (IDL).
The UCSF IDL was established in 2002 as a repository for millions of documents released through litigation against the tobacco industry in the 1990s. These materials, freely accessible through the IDL website, have since been cited in over 1,000 academic papers, offering critical insights into the tactics and health impacts of the multi-billion-dollar tobacco industry.
Over 20 years later, the IDL has grown to include documents from the opioid, chemical, fossil fuel, and food industries. Below, we have highlighted fascinating collections from a few smaller archives within the IDL, and some of the works they have informed.
PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
The IDL houses two significant collections in the Chemical Industry Documents Archive related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which include synthetic chemicals like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and GenX, which scientists have linked to cancer and other health issues.
The first collection includes 39 documents featured in a film from the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, The Devil We Know. The film chronicles when West Virginians confronted DuPont, an American multinational chemical company, over toxic chemical dumping. Afterward one of the most significant environmental class action lawsuits occurred, resulting in a $671 million settlement in 2017, despite DuPont denying wrongdoing. The PFAS Collection documents C-8 toxicity, litigation, and DuPont’s messaging around exposure levels from the 1970s to 2000s.
The second collection, acquired through the Forever Lobbying Project in Europe, contains over 14,000 documents released by the IDL in January 2025. The Forever Pollution Project Collection includes internal industry records, scientific studies, and regulatory materials revealing the chemical industry’s knowledge, practices, and efforts to influence public perception and policy on PFAS. A team of 46 journalists from 16 European countries collected these documents to investigate how the chemical industry and its allies lobbied to weaken a European Union proposal to ban PFAS.
UCSF Professor Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, postdoctoral scholar Nadia Gaber, PhD, and their co-author Lisa Bero, PhD, used these documents in research they published in the Annals of Global Health and highlighted in Time magazine.
Shell and Exxon papers
The Climate Investigations Center (CIC) Collection is a set of 1,161 documents in the Fossil Fuel Industry Documents Archive spanning 1953 to 2017. It features materials from fossil fuel corporations, trade associations, front groups, and think tanks funded by these entities.
A notable subset of 125 documents focuses on multinational oil and gas companies, Shell and Exxon, uncovered initially by the climate journalist, Jelmer Mommers of De Correspondent, and published in CIC’s Climate Files. These documents reveal efforts by both companies to sow public doubt about global warming through company research on climate change and internal efforts to stall climate policy. The 2022 PBS Frontline documentary, The Power of Big Oil, explores the science and history behind the companies’ actions and shares key insights from these papers.
Coca-Cola collections
Within the Food Industry Documents Archive are two collections related to the soft drink company, Coca-Cola: the DC-Leaks Coca-Cola Emails and the New York Times Coca-Cola Collection.
In 2016, hackers leaked 346 emails that expose Coca-Cola’s strategy influence public health policies worldwide amid growing scrutiny of sugary beverages. The documents, now the DC-Leaks Coca-Cola Collection, highlight the company’s efforts to remain relevant as public opinion and scientific research increasingly challenge its products.
The New York Times Coca-Cola Collection, donated by journalist Anahad O’Connor, includes 1,900 documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act and public record requests. These materials demonstrate Coca-Cola’s role in funding the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN). GEBN was a nonprofit that promoted physical activity over reduced sugar intake to address chronic disease and obesity.
Journalist Murray Carpenter featured the Coca-Cola collections in his book, Sweet and Deadly: How Coca-Cola Spreads Disinformation and Makes Us Sick. The book highlighted UCSF professors Laura Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH, and Cristin Kearns, DDS, MPH, for their efforts to safeguard and help preserve these archives for public research.
Growth continues
With over 25 million documents and counting, the UCSF Industry Documents Library is a vital resource for researchers, journalists, policymakers, and the public. While the IDL may be best known for its extensive tobacco archive and quickly growing opioid archive, the Chemical, Fossil Fuel, and Food Industry Archives offer equally compelling insights into corporate influence and its impact on public health.
The IDL’s archivists upload new documents monthly. For updates on our collections, subscribe to the Industry Documents Library newsletter.
Feature image: Coca Cola Company, TheIvester, M DouglasChestnut, James EFayard, Gary Pernst & Young LLP. “The Coca Cola Company 1997 Annual Report”. 1998 February 19. UCSF Industry Documents Library, Fredrick Stare Papers, Fredrick J Stare Papers – H MS c499;Harvard Countway Library of Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/nlny0229/. Accessed Oct 23, 2025.