Millions consuming 'invisible toxic cocktail' of cancer-linked chemicals: study

[babylonsister]

Millions consuming 'invisible toxic cocktail' of cancer-linked chemicals: study
By Sharon Udasin - 11/03/21 12:40 PM EDT


Millions of Americans are unknowingly ingesting water that includes “an invisible toxic cocktail” of cancer-linked chemicals, a new survey of the nation’s tap water has found.

The Environmental Working Group’s 2021 Tap Water Database, available to the public as of Wednesday, revealed contamination from toxins like arsenic, lead and “forever chemicals” — perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — in the drinking water of tens of millions of households across all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C.

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water has demonstrated for decades that it is utterly incapable of standing up to pressure from water utilities and polluters to protect human health from the dozens of toxic contaminants in America’s drinking water,” EWG President Ken Cook said in a press statement.

To compile the database, EWG researchers and scientists spent two years collecting and analyzing U.S. water contaminants from almost 50,000 water systems, a news release from the group said. The researchers attributed their findings to “antiquated infrastructure and rampant pollution of source water,” as well as obsolete EPA regulations that rely “on archaic science” and “allow unsafe levels of toxic chemicals in drinking water.”

more...

https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/579857-millions-consuming-invisible-toxic-cocktail-of-cancer

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Hmmm ... so it's ALLLL the fault of 'big government bureaucrats' ... shocking from The Hill

And nothing to do with the utilities, the polluters, their lobbyists, and GOP cronies in government who corrupt the process whenever they get the chance at writing regs or disempowering the EPA.

So, the obvious solution is just to disband the EPA and let the corruptors and capitalists ... do whatever the fuck they want. That'll fix things!

(to be clear I'm not saying the standards should not be kept up to date w/latest scientific findings, they absolutely should, and I've no doubt that is a real problem).

[NullTuples]

3. So true. The problem is not "big government", it's "not big enough government".

Republicans (& Dems for not fighting back hard enough) over the last 40 years have so weakened regulatory agencies that they are now little more than PR firms for the corporations they oversee when something goes wrong.

[Peregrine Took]

8. +1,000. n/t

[Amishman]

9. I'd say the wrong kind of big government

there are definitely some agencies and functions that could easily be slimmed down and/or streamlined. Defense and intelligence in particular need cleanup.

[NullTuples]

10. True, but in this context "big government" typically refers to regulatory agencies?

I do agree with you 100% about defense & intelligence!

[TeamProg]

2. Huh. Well of course. Food, air, water, climate, oceans, pollution, plastics in our blood..

Did we expect any other result?

[Duppers]

4. K & R

[appalachiablue]

5. (Silent) chemical death in process. K/R

[Evolve Dammit]

6. This is what happens when you let 20,000 chemicals a year be produced and sold with no oversight.

There aren't even any meaningful Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS; now SDS) on the majority. Many hide behind "Proprietary" (privacy) for specific chemical composition so you don't even know what's in them.
Hell we all still have Teflon in our bodies from 50 years ago. Don't get me started.

[NullTuples]

11. Shall we discuss proprietary fracking fluids and how easy it is today to dispose of toxic waste?

There is an entire category of companies that exist and profit on that model.
They buy up useless wells / leases.
And run other businesses that "process" commercial toxic waste.
There's no regulatory mechanism to separate the two, and plenty of corporate protections such as "industry secret" to protect them.

[Evolve Dammit]

13. Fracking sucks. It introduces toxic chemicals to groundwater. Disposal is even worse.

Do you know specific states that allow this?

[NullTuples]

14. Pretty sure the "proprietary fracking fluids" is national

Which means companies that purport to process toxic waste but instead pump it into dry fracking wells could be anywhere.

It's quite the scam & a clean end run around every toxic waste protection law.

[Evolve Dammit]

15. if you see any published stories on this please post. I had not heard this

[ProfessorGAC]

7. To Be Fair...

...the suffix "alkyl" means full saturated, so no double bonds.
Now, it's 100% true that organofluorides are potentially harmful. And, liberated fluoride ions can readily produce free radicals, which we know aren't good.
But, some of these have substantial alkyl groups. The potential positive is that they become less aggressively electronegative (they are less likely to release fluorine) and less absorbable in our tissues.
So, there are degrees of concern here, and the article doesn't elucidate the details to fully assess the risk.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

12. I like your style, PGAC :) nt

[Kid Berwyn]

16. It's in the baby food, too.

High levels of toxic heavy metals found in some baby foods: report

Source: Reuters
By David Shepardson and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional investigators found "dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals" in certain baby foods that could cause neurological damage, a House Oversight subcommittee said in a report released on Thursday.

The panel examined baby foods made by Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nut Nutrition and Gerber, a unit of Nestle, it said, adding that it was "greatly concerned" that Walmart Inc, Campbell Soup Co and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigation.

The report said internal company standards "permit dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals, and documents revealed that the manufacturers have often sold foods that exceeded those levels" and it called on U.S. regulators to set maximum levels of toxic heavy metals permitted in baby foods and require manufacturers to test finished products for heavy metals, not just ingredients.

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat who chairs the panel that released the report, said it found "these manufacturers knowingly sell baby food containing high levels of toxic heavy metals ... It’s time that we develop much better standards for the sake of future generations."

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/high-levels-toxic-heavy-metals-144905884.html