PFAS-REACH team news

After spending several months reporting on the PFAS crisis, I had an alarming realization: taco night might be poisoning me.

I learned that the type of nonstick pans that I used to fry the fish usually contain the toxic chemicals, also called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Research alerted me to their use in some types of parchment paper, which I used to roll tortillas, while the aluminum foil in which I wrapped leftovers raised a red flag with its “nonstick” label. For dessert, I purchased cookies that a local bakery packed in the type of paper bags sometimes treated with PFAS, and the chemicals may have been in my tap water and fish. Read more…

ELEVATED LEVELS OF a PFAS compound were associated with more severe forms of Covid-19, according to a Danish study now undergoing peer review. The research, which involved 323 patients infected with the coronavirus, found that those who had elevated levels of a chemical called PFBA were more than twice as likely to have a severe form of the disease. Read more…

How a problem is framed often shapes the range of solutions considered. Ubiquitous global contamination by PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), human-synthesized chemicals that are water and grease repellent and found in human blood, drinking water, and wildlife, is a problem that has been framed in a number of ways. While environmental regulation is often framed as driven by scientific knowledge, our research finds that in U.S. the implementation of chemical regulation is more commonly driven by scientific ignorance and corporate malfeasance. Read more…

For two decades, state environmental officials have used a controversial pesticide to kill mosquitoes in Massachusetts, spraying millions of acres from the air and ground to reduce the spread of Eastern equine encephalitis. Read more…

PORTSMOUTH — The first in the nation federal health study on adults and children exposed to dangerous PFAS chemicals is slated to restart Thursday, Oct. 15.

Andrea Amico, co-founder of community advocacy group Testing For Pease, said “we were informed by ATSDR (the Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) that the Pease Health Study has been approved to reopen” pending final approval from an internal review board. Read more…

PFAS compounds are ubiquitous, used in a range of products, from food-delivery boxes to non-stick cookware to stain-resistant clothing.

But one of the most troubling routes to PFAS exposure is drinking water that has been contaminated by discharges from factories and other facilities. Read more…

After years of research showing the dangers of so-called forever chemicals, state regulators Thursday joined a growing number of their counterparts in other states in issuing significant new limits on the human-made compounds in drinking water, a move hailed by environmental advocates. Read more…

Consumer Reports found toxic PFAS chemicals in several popular water brands, especially carbonated ones. Read more…