Impacts of PFAS chemicals on immune system highlighted
27 Jun 2019 | NJ Spotlight
“A new compilation of research into how toxic PFAS chemicals affect the human immune system finds suppressed immune function, lower vaccine effectiveness, hypersensitivity and greater risk of autoimmune diseases. Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that advocates for tighter curbs on the chemicals nationwide, reviewed previously published…
Michigan eyes toughest limits for some PFAS in drinking water
25 Jun 2019 | MLive
“LANSING, MI — Michigan could have some of the nation’s toughest drinking water limits for toxic fluorochemicals called PFAS if goals proposed by a state scientific workgroup survive the environmental rulemaking process unchanged and become law. On Thursday, June 27, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) received “health-based values” for seven separate PFAS compounds from an advisory panel tasked with recommending regulatory limits for the chemicals in public water supplies…
Wisconsin grapples with ‘green’ waste plants that spread hazardous PFAS
23 Jun 2019 | Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin pollution regulators have come to realize that sludge from wastewater treatment plants may be spreading hazardous industrial chemicals in ways that could increase health risks. Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District injects 37 million gallons of sludge into soil each year but doesn't test for PFAS.
Bipartisan Senate efforts to mandate agencies address growing PFAS crisis
21 Jun 2019
As more than two dozen federal legislative proposals to address PFAS elbow their way through the halls of Congress, the Senate is likely to pass the National Defense Authorization Act before the July Fourth holiday with various bipartisan PFAS provisions that include reach beyond the Department of Defense.
Exempt ‘essential uses’ to accelerate PFAS phaseout, experts say
20 Jun 2019 | Chemical Watch
“An international group of scientists has outlined – with reference to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) – a scheme for differentiating chemicals of concern according to the “essentiality” of their uses. The aim is to improve the way in which regulators phase out chemicals, by helping them to identify uses that should form the basis of exemptions…
PFAS chemical contamination will cost Alaska millions
20 Jun 2019 | Juneau Empire
“PFAS contamination is a widespread problem in Alaska and the U.S., and addressing it is going to be costly. ... This fiscal year, two state departments... have so far spent almost $1 million collectively on PFAS-related costs, according to department figures. About 10 times that could be spent around the state over the next five years…
The hunt for PFAS turns to Michigan farms using human waste as fertilizer
19 Jun 2019 | MLive
The hunt for PFAS in Michigan is turning to farm fields, where concerns are growing about possible contamination in treated human waste used as fertilizer. This month, scientists are analyzing test results from more than a dozen state agricultural sites that received the the fertilizer from wastewater treatment plants that were flagged in 2018 for high concentrations of the chemicals flowing into their systems from industrial sources or landfills...
Teflon toxin safety level should be 700 times lower than current EPA guideline
18 Jun 2019
Read the full article by Sharon Lerner (The Intercept) “New data suggests that the safety threshold for PFOA in drinking water should be as low as .1 parts per trillion, according to the nation’s top toxicologist. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, cited the figure, which is 700 times lower than the…
FDA tests confirm suspicions about PFAS chemicals in food
17 Jun 2019 | EWG News and Analysis
A recent investigation by the Food and Drug Administration found toxic per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in food, including meat, seafood and dairy products; sweet potatoes; pineapples; leafy greens, and chocolate cake with icing. FDA has yet to make the results of its tests public. But…
On Japan’s Okinawa, U.S. military is accused of contaminating environment with hazardous chemical
17 Jun 2019 | Washington Post
The U.S. military on the Japanese island of Okinawa is facing accusations of environmental contamination after high levels of a carcinogenic chemical were found in the rivers around a U.S. air base and in the blood of local residents, according to a new study.
Reporter’s notebook: PFAS conference unveils global perspective
17 Jun 2019 | The Intelligencer
Report from the second National Conference on PFAS chemicals at Northeastern University in Boston.
Dr. Linda Birnbaum on “forever chemicals”
17 Jun 2019
From the 2nd Annual National PFAS Conference - Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D. of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Excerpt from the upcoming documentary "GenX: A Chemical Cocktail" which outlines the worst pollution crisis in global history. Specifically, the decades long contamination of food, air and water by chemicals called "PFASs".
Amid PFAS nightmare, unlikely activists are born in Michigan
14 Jun 2019 | Bridge Magazine
That none of them can easily pronounce the name of the conference they’re attending says as much about their unlikely roles in fighting PFAS toxins as do their real jobs – moms, a teacher, an office assistant, a psychologist for people with disabilities…
PFAS Nation: Toxic discharges suspected from almost 500 industrial facilities across U.S.
11 Jun 2019
At least 475 industrial facilities across the nation could be discharging the toxic fluorinated compounds known as PFAS into the air and water, according to an EWG analysis of government data... [This] count of industrial sites does not include 446 public water systems known to be contaminated with PFAS, more than 100 military installations with known or suspected water contamination identified by the Pentagon, or hundreds of Defense Department fire training stations with known or suspected use of PFAS-based firefighting foam, identified by the Intercept...
Australian researchers make PFAS breakthrough
7 Jun 2019 | Australian Defence Magazine
The problem of cleaning up toxic polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) pollution has seen a breakthrough in the discovery of a new low-cost, safe and environmentally friendly method that removes PFAS from water. PFAS pollution does not break down readily in the environment and was extensively used in fire-fighting foams at airports and Defence sites, resulting in contaminated ground and surface water…