How many kilos of PFAs are in this??
https://old.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1i7h36p/surreal_pictures_of_la_suburbs_covered_in_pink/
Removed by mods
You can look up what's in retardant when in general terms
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-is-fire-retardant-and-how-does-it-work
It's not like flame retardants in furniture and tents that traditionally depend on pfas. Very different stuff, though not completely free of worrisome things like corrosion inhibitors
We have of course had huge amounts sprayed and dropped around here. During the Ferguson fire they drove tankers down the road and sprayed both sides
You can also find POV videos of people under a drop. It's quite a slop.
> POV
https://youtube.com/shorts/q8vhxfm7pWk?si=bRkPDl0R0ruKagL0
US wildfire suppressants rife with toxic heavy metals, study finds | US wildfires | The Guardian
"The US federal government and chemical makers have long concealed the contents of pink wildfire suppressants widely spread by firefighting aircraft to contain blazes, but new test results provide alarming answers – the substances are rife with cadmium, arsenic, chromium and other toxic heavy metals.
The suppressants are a "major" source of toxic pollution that causes heavy-metal levels to spike in the environment, and the products themselves contain metal levels up to 3,000 times above drinking water limits, the peer-reviewed research found."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/13/us-wildfire-suppressants-toxic-study
Oh my!
More worrisome stuff than I thought
"trade secrets" and exempt from public disclosure near the top of /r tonight
The government and chemical makers have claimed up to 20% of aerial suppressants' contents are "trade secrets" and exempt from public disclosure, so while there has been suspicion of the substances' toxicity, the study is the first to confirm the metals' presence.
I'm having Agent Orange flashbacks.
>> Agent Orange
An apt comparison. If I recall from my high school paper on Agent Orange, the actual herbicide broke down quickly and should not have been an environmental problem, but manufacturers also mixed in large amounts of dioxins and those are highly toxic and very persistent in the environment.
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/what-is-agent-orange/
The link in the OP is deleted, but it looks like this is the same post
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1i7gvt1/surreal_pictures_of_la_suburbs_covered_in_pink/
>very persistent in the environment.
The exact number of people exposed to Agent Orange from 1962 to 1971 is unknown. Nearly 3 million American soldiers served in the armed forces in Vietnam during this time who may have been exposed to the herbicide. In addition, studies suggest that Agent Orange exposure reached over 3 million people living in Vietnam during the conflict.
What are the symptoms of Agent Orange effects?
Agent Orange effects range in severity. The chemicals in the herbicide affect everyone who had exposure differently. Symptoms could include the following:
Acne on your face, including blackheads.
Getting infections frequently.
Numbness, prickly or tingling feeling in your hands and feet.
Fatigue.
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
Swelling of your feet and legs (edema).
Tremors while your muscles are at rest.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24689-agent-orange-effects
Add to that list, genetic weirdness that causes birth defects in the children of people who were exposed to Agent Orange.
When we travelled in Viet Nam our tour leader took us to an orphanage of children with birth defects caused by Agent Orange. The deformed children greeted us cheerfully, and there was laughter on the playground, but it was a heart-breaking place.
We were told that the Vietnamese government has forbidden thousands of its citizens to marry because the chances are so high that their children would have major birth defects.
In a culture which puts a high value on family, that is a tragedy of its own.
Our tour bus drove through a region where no one lives now, because even decades after Agent Orange was used it isn't safe to live there.
We shed tears that day.
>Agent Orange
And cancer. I knew a US Army tank commander who died from cancer from Agent Orange exposure. Planes would drop AO all over the area the tanks were moving through. It was pouring off the jungle foliage from above right itnto the open hatch of the tank which was awash with it. The tank commander got it worse being half out of the hatch and soaked. They could not button up. You can't fight in the jungle in a tank buttoned up if you want to live. Can't see shit.
>> an orphanage of children with birth defects caused by Agent Orange
Not to add salt in the wound, but providing aid for Vietnamese affect by AO is one of the things that USAID did. We are now shirking our responsibility to these people