Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories over the last week
Long legacy of a polluting paper mill; PFAS and a Maryland Perdue plant; PFAS and beer; formaldehyde in lotion; a PFAS-containing pesticide; California's dirty air.
Even long after close of polluting paper mill, study finds area residents with high levels of toxins in their blood
Residents of a Michigan community whose drinking water was polluted with toxic chemicals from a long-shuttered paper mill continue to have high levels of the compounds in their bodies, even years after the community switched to alternate water supplies, according to a new study.
A team led by researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) measured levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood samples taken from people living in the area of Parchment, Michigan, coming up with data the researchers said underscores how difficult it is to purge PFAS from the bodies of people exposed to them.
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” because of the difficulty in eradicating them, are a class of chemicals that include several types linked to cancers and other health concerns. Two of the types known to be particularly hazardous, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), were found in 100% of the blood samples. (Read the rest of the story.)
Maryland residents demand Perdue stop discharging PFAS that pollutes their water
Residents of a Maryland community afflicted with contamination from harmful chemicals are demanding that a local soybean processing plant immediately stop releasing toxic PFAS into their drinking and groundwater in violation of a federal law that governs the disposal of hazardous waste.
Attorneys representing two residents of Salisbury, Maryland, on April 29 sent a letter to Perdue Agribusiness as well as state and federal regulators, warning that they they intend to sue the company in 90 days if it continues violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Notice of Intent (NOI) to sue calls on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to enforce the law.
By allegedly continuing to release and improperly dispose of these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from its facility, Perdue’s actions “may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment,” says the letter. (Read the rest of the story.)
Is there PFAS in your pint?
The only thing hazier than your favorite IPA might be the chemicals lurking in it.
Many popular beers — from both small breweries to large domestic and international ones — contain types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) linked to cancer and other health problems, according to a new study published in Environmental Science and Technology that looked at PFAS in 94 samples of beer.
The study authors said their findings add to evidence of widespread PFAS contamination in water supplies and “provide insights for brewers and water utilities on treatment needs, and support informed decision-making for consumers.” (Read the rest of the story.)
Formaldehyde lurks in lotions, other products popular with Black and Latina women
A main ingredient in embalming fluid may be hiding in your body lotion.
In an analysis of more than 1,100 products used over the course of a week by 70 Black and Latina women in South Los Angeles, over half reported using products that researchers found contained formaldehyde or preservatives that release the toxic chemical.
The study, published May 7 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, found that only one product explicitly listed formaldehyde on its label – an eyelash glue. All other products that exposed participants to the chemical contained it in the form of “formaldehyde-releasing preservatives,” which slowly leach formaldehyde to extend a product’s shelf life. (Read the rest of the story.)
Another PFAS-containing pesticide headed for US registration
US regulators are poised to approve a pesticide made with a controversial class of toxic chemicals, stoking concerns of new risks for farms across the country.
Syngenta, which developed the pesticide and is seeking US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval, lauds the new active ingredient, cyclobutrifluram, as a safe way to battle pests and diseases and help promote “sustainability.”
But environmental and health advocates say the new pesticide product contains fluorinated chemicals, which, by definition, makes them per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can persist in the environment for decades or even centuries. (Read the rest of the story.)
Postcard from California: Despite strict regulations, the state still has the nation’s dirtiest air
(Opinion columns published in The New Lede represent the views of the individual(s) authoring the columns and not necessarily the perspectives of TNL editors.)
In the years after World War II, the smog in Los Angeles was so thick that at times people could see no farther than three blocks.
Despite efforts to limit emissions from power plants and oil refineries, the eye-burning, lung-choking blanket of smog remained. Then, in the 1950s, groundbreaking research by a biochemistry professor at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit, determined that the main culprit was automobile exhaust.
His discovery led in 1966 to California setting the first tailpipe emissions standards in the US. A year later, the federal Air Quality Act granted California the right to set its own increasingly tougher standards, and dozens of other pioneering clean-air regulations have followed. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) boasts that since the 1980s, California cars have been the cleanest in the world. (Read the rest of the opinion column.)