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…
A new Duke University study has found that the concentrations of some potentially cancerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — are two to four times higher in the blood of Pittsboro residents than the U.S. population as a whole. Read more…
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from consumer advocates and a major industry group—a decision the agency justifies in part by pointing to a now-outdated analysis that employed limited testing methods, a review of FDA documents by Consumer Reports shows.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…
Nearly two months after a new law went into effect restricting the use of hazardous firefighting foams, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is still trying to write rules for enforcing it amid disputes over what is considered foam and how to define effective treatment. Read more…
While a dairy farm in Fairfield has had its products taken off the shelves since June following the discovery of high levels of so-called “forever chemicals” in its milk, a nearby resident says she recently found out her well water has been contaminated with the same chemicals. Read more…
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…
Pregnant women in the Nunavik region in northern Quebec are twice as exposed to certain chemicals produced far from home than a representative sample of other Canadian women of the same age group, according to a study led by a researcher from Université Laval. Read more…
TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Residents near the Traverse City airport are being offered bottled water after the state found high levels of toxic PFAS chemicals near a neighborhood where multiple homes still rely on private groundwater wells despite the presence of city water mains. Read more…
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…
A chemical introduced by the manufacturer Solvay Specialty Polymers USA to replace a now-regulated PFAS substance has been found in New Jersey drinking water, and the company’s own research suggests that it can cause liver damage, according to emails obtained by Consumer Reports. Read more…
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