(Reuters) -Chemours ( CC ), DuPont ( DD ) and Corteva ( CTVA ) have agreed to pay $875 million over 25 years to the State of New Jersey to settle environmental claims including pollution linked to PFAS, or "forever chemicals", the companies said on Monday.

Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting U.S. drinking water with toxic PFAS chemicals led to over $11 billion in settlements in 2023, with experts predicting that new federal regulations and a growing awareness of the breadth of the contamination will spur more litigation and settlements.

PFAS are a class of chemicals that are used in a wide range of products including non-stick cookware and firefighting foams. They are commonly called "forever chemicals" as these substances do not break down easily in the human body or nature, and are associated with certain cancers, hormonal dysfunction and other diseases.

The payments announced on Monday, whose present value is about $500 million before taxes, will start no earlier than January 1, 2026.

Chemours ( CC ) will make half of the settlement payments, while DuPont ( DD ) will pay 35.5% and Corteva ( CTVA ) the rest, the companies said in a statement.

In 2023, the three firms reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. state of Ohio for $110 million to resolve claims associated with PFAS.

That same year, 3M agreed to pay $10.3 billion to settle hundreds of claims that the company polluted public drinking water with the chemicals, while Chemours ( CC ), DuPont ( DD ) and Corteva ( CTVA ) reached a similar deal with U.S. water providers for $1.19 billion.

Of the total settlement announced on Monday, $16.5 million is attributed to alleged PFAS contamination unrelated to the companies' operating sites.

(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal and Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)