"A worrying class of persistent chemicals"
"A worrying class of persistent chemicals"
"...the water looks unremarkable, but it is contaminated with synthetic compounds called fluorochemicals, which have been generating increasing concern around the world." - The Fluorine Detectives online in the February 2019 Scientific American Chemistry Section
If we do not stop the Exfluor Research Corporation from building out on County Road 236, we should expect to see a rise in pregnancy complications and cancer among our residents according to studies that "linked growing concentrations of two of the most popular fluorochemicals, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) - a known EXFLUOR product - and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), to a bevy of health issues, including cancers and problems during pregnancies."
Globally companies and countries alike have stated they would "phase out PFOS under the Stockholm Convention, which controls persistent pollutants; this year PFOA is expected to be added to the banned list."
However, forever chemicals are just that, forever. These toxic chemicals "...don’t naturally degrade, hundreds of millions of people in Europe, the United States, Australia and China are still exposed to levels of these compounds that exceed what regulatory agencies deem healthy." - Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment on Nature.com
Don't be fooled by a different name. "PFOA has a chain of eight carbons—it is sometimes called, simply, C8PFOA has a chain of eight carbons—it is sometimes called, simply, C8"
"C8 (perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA) is both a toxin and carcinogenic substance." - Houston Lawyer, Terry Bryant.
Juries aren't the only to agree on this as "...an epidemiological study of almost 70,000 people which, by 2012, had linked C8 to diseases including kidney and testicular cancers, pregnancy-induced hypertension, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol (see go.nature.com/2wzex8e)." - The Fluorine Detectives
Swirl Hole - North San Gabriel River
What should we as residents and community members do?
"...THE BIGGEST PRIORITY SHOULD BE TO PREVENT PFAS CONTAMINATION..."
&
"...THE DEFAULT POSITION SHOULD BE TO RESTRICT THE USE OF ALL PFASs..."- The Fluorine Detectives
We are too late for the "110 million Americans drink water with PFAS levels that surpass this recommendation, and 6 million have water with higher levels than the EPA’s guidelines." We do not have to be too late for our community.
✍️ Sign the petition now!
While EXFLUOR will claim they are doing everything they can to keep the air and water clean... forever chemicals "often end up in wastewater treatment plants that are not equipped to remove PFASs, Knappe [Detlef Knappe, an environmental engineer at North Carolina State University in Raleigh] says, so the chemicals end up in waterways anyway." - The Fluorine Detectives
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