By Molly M. Ginty and Courtney Lindwall, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Read full Article HERE.
Nonstick cookware, grease-resistant food packaging, and waterproof clothing are all products that make our daily lives less messy, but that convenience comes at a cost.
A class of manmade chemicals known as PFAS—which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—is part of what makes these consumer goods water-, stain-, and grease-resistant. PFAS are also toxic at extremely low levels (i.e. parts per quadrillion), posing significant risks to our health. And if you’re wondering why they’re called “forever chemicals,” it’s because they are nearly indestructible.
Unfortunately, PFAS are almost impossible to avoid. They are found in our homes, our offices, our supermarkets—practically everywhere.
Erik D. Olson, NRDC’s senior strategic director of health and food, says PFAS are dangerous for three crucial reasons. “First, the structure of PFAS means they resist breakdown in the environment and in our bodies. Second, they move relatively quickly through the environment, making their contamination hard to contain. Third, for some PFAS, even extremely low levels of exposure can negatively impact our health.”
What’s worse, manufacturers don’t have to disclose to consumers that they’re using them and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t regulate or test for most PFAS chemicals. So here’s what you should know and tips on how to protect yourself.
What are the health effects of PFAS?
PFAS have now been linked to a wide range of health risks in both human and animal studies—including cancer (kidney and testicular), hormone disruption, liver and thyroid problems, interference with vaccine effectiveness, reproductive harm, and abnormal fetal development.
Many of these problems, including kidney cancer and thyroid disease, turned up in the C8 studies, which monitored the health of about 69,000 people in West Virginia who were exposed to certain PFAS in their drinking water. Key adverse effects of some PFAS were known by chemical industry scientists decades ago, but were not disclosed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the public. For example, the EPA issued a multimillion-dollar fine to manufacturer DuPont because of the company’s “multiple failures to report information to EPA about substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment” from the PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA or C8). Now, scores of independent studies show PFAS can be toxic to adults and especially children, whose developing bodies are more vulnerable. Some PFAS have even been known to build up in a child before birth. Alarmingly, PFAS were detected in the breast milk, umbilical cord blood, or bloodstreams of 98 percent of participants in a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read full Article HERE to find out more about PFA’s in clothes, water, around the house and what this can mean to future generations. Also, what policies you can support to counteract PFA use.
