The Core
Why We Are Here => Water Cooler => Topic started by: rcjordan on July 20, 2019, 02:17:57 PM
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What consumers can do as regulators weigh compounds' risks
https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/07/20/what-consumers-can-do-as-regulators-weigh-compounds-risks
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Interesting. I had no idea.
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Background: DuPont spun off "The Chemours Company" as a separate entity in 2014, just as the states' environmental departments were starting to raise alarms about PFAs. Cynics now say this was a move to limit DuPont's liability.
PFAS shows up in Haw River, Pittsboro water, but gets limited local attention - North Carolina Health News
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/07/30/pfas-shows-up-in-haw-river-pittsboro-water-but-little-local-outcry/
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Rainwater in parts of US contains high levels of PFAS chemical, says study
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/17/rainwater-pfas-us-potentially-toxic-levels-study
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A friend is involved in this with respect to Bay Area water and industrial sites. It's monumental it seems.
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>monumental
Gonna be bigger than kepone.
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My understanding from her was that industrial sites are the main issue.
The first article suggests cookware is enough to create issues.... and I like non-stick cookware.
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GenX is the one in the news currently.
High concentrations of fluorinated chemical GenX found in watershed
https://phys.org/news/2018-04-high-fluorinated-chemical-genx-watershed.html
"Industrial sites, airports, wastewater-treatment plants and fire-training areas upstream from the water treatment plant can all contribute to higher PFAS levels"
What wasn't low in Wilmington, however, were levels of GenX and other "emerging" PFAS chemicals. GenX and related compounds originated from a flurochemical manufacturing plant upstream from Wilmington owned by The Chemours Company.
GenX, the trade name for the ammonium form of perfluoro-2-propoxypropanoic acid (PFPrOPrA), is used to make polymers, such as the non-stick coating Teflon, food-wrapper coatings and other products.
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<+>
This just in.
DuPont seeks to toss Chemours environmental liabilities suit
https://apnews.com/a57467492681ee14604f27ff6552ed5b
"Chemours faces more than $200 million in costs to address environmental issues at a North Carolina manufacturing facility, 100 times more than DuPont’s estimated $2 million maximum liability. Chemours also has said that potential environmental liabilities in New Jersey far exceed the $337 million cited by DuPont at the time of the spinoff.
In a consent order with the state of North Carolina, Chemours agreed last year to pay a $12 million penalty and $1 million for investigative costs, and to sharply reduce air emissions of a compound known as GenX. The company says the total cost of the consent order will exceed $200 million."
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Michigan sues companies over 'forever chemical' contamination | TheHill
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/478263-michigan-sues-companies-over-forever-chemical-contamination
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La Croix, Nestle Among 7 Waters With Elevated PFAS in Study - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-24/lacroix-nestle-waters-have-elevated-pfas-consumer-reports-says
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DuPont, Chemours reach agreement over 'forever chemicals'
https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-delaware-environment-courts-pollution-ca1c92840b2ad9a481a09da420d4beca
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Officials Find Forever Chemicals in Beef From Michigan Farm
https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/science/michigan-farm-cattle-forever-chemicals
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Forever chemicals found in drinking water throughout Illinois
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/environment/ct-pfas-illinois-drinking-water-20220710-lcql5pgfjjcqrm2libb3gej5ty-htmlstory.html
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EPA to designate 'forever chemicals' as hazardous substances
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/national/epa-to-designate-forever-chemicals-as-hazardous-substances
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More ‘forever chemicals’ found in WA drinking water as cleanup costs mount | The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/more-forever-chemicals-found-in-wa-drinking-water-as-cleanup-costs-mount/
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All fish tested from Michigan rivers contain ‘forever chemicals’, study finds | PFAS | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/pfas-michigan-rivers-fish-study
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REI to stop selling clothes, cookware with 'forever chemicals'
https://www.kuow.org/stories/rei-has-committed-to-phasing-out-pfas-toxins-aka-forever-chemicals-9fbf
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EU: PFAS ban affects most refrigerant blends
https://www.coolingpost.com/world-news/pfas-ban-affects-most-refrigerant-blends/
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PFAS 'forever chemicals' about to get their first US limits
https://ravallirepublic.com/news/national/pfas-forever-chemicals-about-to-get-their-first-us-limits/article_89488c79-e9ad-5dca-af29-7c2440f6c6fa.html
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I'm curious what the alternatives are to PFAS in waterproof-breathable clothing.
Patagonia has been on the case since 2015
https://www.patagonia.com/stories/our-dwr-problem-updated/story-17673.html
But they are just now getting there, planning to end using PFCs (PFAS, PFOS, PFOA) by 2024
It's starting to get more mainstream coverage too
https://time.com/6252365/pfas-raincoats/
I suspect the REI announcement comes around now because progressive manufacturers are telling them that they can get there by 2024 and REI is trying to signal the others.
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I thought it was mostly Teflon. Nope, wrong.
"PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals often used to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. The chemicals are ubiquitous, and linked at low levels of exposure to cancer, thyroid disease, kidney dysfunction, birth defects, autoimmune disease and other serious health problems.
They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally degrade.
The chemicals are thought to be contaminating drinking water for at least 200 million Americans, while watchdogs have identified thousands of industrial polluters. Similar widespread contamination persists throughout Europe."
Societal cost of ‘forever chemicals’ about $17.5tn across global economy – report | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/12/pfas-forever-chemicals-societal-cost-new-report
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I thought it was in flame retardants. But I think that's mostly wrong, they just tend to get mentioned together
e.g.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/05/us-child-car-seats-pfas-foxic-flame-retardants-study
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-021-00778-z
There was a big kerfuffle many years ago when tents were required to be flame retardant. Lots of people didn't like that and there was a rush to buy old tents without flame retardant.
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Huge discussions going on here on PFAS. We pride ourselfes with some of the cleanest water in the world straight from the tab.
Unfortunately a lot of the wells have way too much PFAS in them.
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>> We pride ourselfes with some of the cleanest water in the world straight from the tab.
That's not how we roll in the US. Lots of places with terrible tap water, often from agricultural pollution with the surprise to many people that rural water quality is often much, much worse than in the cities (SFO, NYC and LA long ago "stole" the water they needed from the pure sources in rural areas and then protected those watersheds).
The Brita PRO Whole-Home PFAS Removal System Titanium Series
https://britapro.com/water-filtration/pfas-removal-system/
First bullet point: Coming soon!
I heard a phrase recently that, apparently, is quite old (like back to the Roman Empire), but quite a propos for America today: private opulence, public squalor. The former being ultimately a driver of the latter.
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Do Brita Filters Remove PFAS – Real World Testing Data
If you’re wondering do Brita filters remove PFAS from tap water, the answer is no. While activated carbon in a Brita pitcher can remove some of these contaminants from drinking water, it does not reduce their concentration to drinking water standards. Brita filters are not designed to treat PFAS and should NOT be used for this purpose.
Experts agree that a reverse osmosis system installed under your kitchen sink is the best option available to consumers. Duke tested these systems and found they removed 96% or more of these toxins, with no difference among brands.
They also waste a lot of water – only about 20% of the contaminated water ends being treated. The rest is dumped down the drain.
Testing Your Drinking Water for PFAS
You can now test for 14 different PFAS compounds with the SimpleLab at-home kit.
https://purewaterblog.com/do-brita-filters-remove-pfas-real-world-testing-data
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Dutch to hold US firm (3M) liable for 'forever chemicals' in river | Business
https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/environment/dutch-to-hold-us-firm-liable-for-forever-chemicals-in-river-20230528
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Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ taint nearly half of U.S. tap water, study estimates
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/06/tap-water-forever-chemicals-pfas
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>flame retardants. they just tend to get mentioned together
‘Disturbing’: 25 types of toxic flame retardant found in US breast milk | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/20/toxic-flame-retardants-human-breast-milk
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All About PFAS, the ‘Forever Chemicals’ That US and EU Are Targeting
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/24/pfas-all-about-forever-chemicals-and-why-us-eu-are-targeting-them/c4426f2a-4291-11ee-9677-53cc50eb3f77_story.html
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90% of “Eco-Friendly” Paper Straws Contain Traces of Toxic Forever Chemicals
https://scienceswitch.com/2023/08/27/90-of-eco-friendly-paper-straws-contain-traces-of-toxic-forever-chemicals/
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Cheaper method removes harmful ‘forever chemicals’ from water
https://www.futurity.org/pfas-pfos-forever-chemicals-water-3189352/
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https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/3m-pfas-drinking-water-settlement/
Court approves 3M multi-billion dollar settlement over PFAS in public drinking water systems - CBS Minnesota
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https://apnews.com/article/forever-chemicals-pfas-pollution-epa-drinking-water-1c8804288413a73bb7b99fc866c8fa51
Biden administration imposes first-ever national drinking water limits on toxic PFAS
EPA's new rules require utilities to reduce toxic chemicals in drinking water | AP News
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As we pride ourselves with some of the cleanest tap drinking water, PFAS is a huge issue here as well.
Farmers and corporations getting a lot of pressure and in the news all the time.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/29/pfas-death-cardiovascular-disease
PFAS increase likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, study shows | PFAS | The Guardian
"For the first time, researchers have formally shown that exposure to toxic PFAS increases the likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, adding a new level of concern to the controversial chemicals’ wide use."