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Monthly Archives

October 2020

Toxic “Forever Chemicals” Under-Investigated and Under-Regulated

By PFAS in the news

Per-/poly-fluroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are everywhere. They are used in firefighting foam, car wax, and even fast-food wrappers. They’re one of the most toxic substances ever identified—harmful at concentrations in the parts per trillion—yet very little is known about them. PFAS, which is a class of over 3000 compounds, are only regulated at the state level, so while some states are working to aggressively tackle the problem, other states have chosen to ignore PFAS completely, leaving concentrations unknown and health risks unexplored. Read more…

FDA Delays Setting Limits on PFAS in Bottled Water

By PFAS in the news

The Food and Drug Administration is declining to set limits for potentially toxic chemicals in bottled water, despite pressure from consumer advocates and a major industry group—a decision the agency justifies in part by pointing to a now-outdated analysis that employed limited testing methods, a review of FDA documents by Consumer Reports shows. Read more…

Why Are DuPont and Chemours Still Discharging the Most Notorious ‘Forever Chemical’?

By PFAS in the news

The Big Bang of the nationwide “forever chemicals” crisis was the revelation in 2001 that PFOA, a toxic compound used to make Teflon, had contaminated the drinking water for 70,000 people near a DuPont factory in West Virginia. Pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency forced DuPont and other companies to phase out PFOA, and they agreed not to use it after 2015.

So why are DuPont and its spinoff company Chemours still discharging PFOA from their facilities? Read more…

Bill Gates-Backed Venture Aims to Eliminate ‘Forever Chemicals’

By PFAS in the news

A new venture backed by billionaire Bill Gates is trying to make sure that “forever chemicals” don’t really last that long.

Allonnia LLC, which launched Thursday with $40 million in Series A funding, is working to engineer microbes to get rid of pollutants in wastewater and soil. It’s starting with PFAS, an insidious class of chemicals that are widespread in U.S. drinking water and have otherwise proved resistant to breaking down, earning them the “forever” moniker. Read more…