Tag Archives: Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Eating One Freshwater Fish Equals a Month of Drinking Water With ‘Forever Chemicals’: Study

“The extent that PFAS has contaminated fish is staggering,” said the lead researcher, advocating for “a single health protective fish consumption advisory for freshwater fish across the country.”

By Jessica Corbett.  Published 1-17-2023 by Common Dreams

Yet another study on Tuesday raised the alarm about the dangers of “forever chemicals,” revealing that eating just one locally caught freshwater fish in the continental United States can be equivalent to drinking contaminated water for a month.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely called forever chemicals because they persist in the human body and environment for long periods. Despite public health concerns, the manufactured chemicals have been used in products ranging from firefighting foam and waterproof clothing to nonstick pans and food packaging. Continue reading

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More Than 57,000 US Sites Contaminated by Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’

The finding comes after a separate analysis showed that companies are exploiting a Trump-era loophole to avoid reporting PFAS pollution.

By Julia Conley  Published 10-12-2022 by Common Dreams

PFAS foam. Photo: Water Online

The authors of a new study showing that tens of thousands of sites across the United States are believed to be contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called “forever chemicals,” warned that their findings likely vastly underestimate the prevalence of the chemicals, because they’re used in so many products.

Scientists at Northeastern University in Boston led the study, which was published Wednesday in Environmental Science & Technology Letters and identified 57,412 sites where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination is presumed. Continue reading

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In ‘Historic’ Step, Biden EPA Moves to Designate Two Forever Chemicals as Hazardous

Arguing the Biden administration’s new rule isn’t enough, campaigners said, “I-t’s time for EPA to address the whole PFAS class.”

-By Jake Johnson  Published 8-26-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: Steven Depolo/flickr

The Environmental Protection Agency moved Friday to designate two commonly used “forever chemicals” as hazardous under federal law, a long-awaited step that green groups welcomed as important while also warning it is inadequate to address the scale of toxic pollution caused by the increasingly ubiquitous substances.

The EPA said in a press release that it has proposed a rule to formally classify perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)—part of a long list of chemical compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—”as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as ‘Superfund.'” Continue reading

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