Latest news with #foreverchemicals
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Are Warning of A Brand-New Kind of Acid Rain
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: While acid rain caused by sulfur dioxide is an environmental threat of the past (at least, for now), a new kind of acid is proliferating in rain water—as well as groundwater, ice cores, and even human blood. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is a subclass of 'forever chemical' that's been steadily increasing in concentrations around the world. With calls to consider this rise in TFA a planetary threat, some governments are starting ban chemicals linked to TFA—but the threat will require global cooperation. Acid rain may have a sequel, and like most sequels, it's arguably worse. While the world's first bout of acid rain (at least, in modern times) came from increased concentrations of sulfuric acid produced largely from coal plants, this new anthropogenic source is possibly more pervasive, more persistent, and more sinister. Its name is Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a kind of 'forever chemical' that, for decades, has been steadily increasing in rain water—but not just rain water. Countries around the world have found increasing concentrations in groundwater, arctic ice cores, wine, and even human blood. In fact, TFA is likely the most pervasive form of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS)—technically, a subclass known as ultrashort-chain perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA)—on Earth due in part to the fact that longer-chain PFAS degrade into TFA via incinerators or sewage treatment plants. They're also used in refrigerants instead of chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which were famously known to deplete the Earth's ozone layer. In October of 2024, a team of European environmental scientists raised the TFA alarm, stating that a rise in concentration could be considered a threat to 'planetary boundaries'—a system designed to make sure the planet remains habitable for human life (which we are doing a real bang-up job at following). 'Since the 1990s, it has been suggested that hazard-related concerns of TFA and other short-chain PFAAs are much lower than those of PFAAs with longer perfluoroalkyl chains, which are more bioaccumulative and generally more toxic,' the authors wrote back in October. 'However, these early reports did not consider TFA's ubiquitous accumulation in the environment, in particular its observed accumulation in water resources and bioaccumulation in various plants, including crops.' One of the most dangerous things about PFAAs is what we don't know about them. Unlike other PFAS (of which there are, sadly, thousands of different kinds), TFA is so small (a.k.a. ultrashort) that it's water-soluble, meaning it likely passes through the human body pretty quickly. A new Nature article reports that some scientists find this evidence compelling enough to not even consider TFA a kind of PFAS, but a growing chorus of voices are raising concerns that increased concentrations of TFA in water and food sources could render TFA's fast-moving nature a moot point. In fact, TFA's water-solubility could be a long-term headache. If scientists and governments eventually decide that TFA does need to be removed from drinking water and other sources, current filtration technologies are not up to the task. In other words, ridding the world of TFA will not only be immensely difficult, it'll also be incredibly expensive. Current regulations to eliminate certain forms of PFAS are already proving to be fiscally onerous. Thankfully, some governments are taking action. Denmark, for example, banned 23 substances earlier this month known to contain PFAS that contribute to rising TFA concentrations. Meanwhile, the U.S. is lagging behind—the Environmental Protection Agency doesn't even define TFA as a 'forever chemical,' much to the dismay of environmentalist groups and to the merriment of many industry leaders. Rising concentrations of TFA is the acid rain sequel no one wanted. But just like every terrible sequel ever made, it seems like we're getting it anyway. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Forever chemicals in household objects linked to type 2 diabetes, scientists warn
Common 'forever chemicals' found in everyday items like non-stick cookware, food packaging and waterproof clothing could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research has found. The study adds to a growing body of research pointing to a role of plastic-related 'forever chemicals', also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs), in disrupting human metabolism. Researchers in New York analysed health records and blood samples from 360 people, comparing individuals recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to those without. They found that people with higher levels of PFAs in their blood were up to 31 per cent more likely to develop diabetes. PFAS are a class of thousands of human-made chemicals used since the 1940s in stain-resistant furniture, greaseproof food packaging, cosmetics and firefighting foams. They are known for persisting in the environment and the bloodstream, earning them the name 'forever chemicals.' The study showed these chemicals appear to interfere with amino acid biosynthesis and drug metabolism – processes that are critical to the body's blood sugar regulation. 'PFAS are synthetic chemicals that resist heat, oil, water, and stains, and are found in countless everyday consumer products,' said Dr Vishal Midya, senior author of the study and assistant professor of environmental medicine at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. 'Because they don't break down easily, PFAS accumulate in the environment – and in human bodies.' The researchers said their findings point to a need to factor in environmental exposure, not just genetics or lifestyle, when trying to prevent type 2 diabetes. 'Mounting research suggests that PFAS are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, such as obesity, liver disease, and diabetes,' said Dr Damaskini Valvi, associate professor of public health and environmental medicine at Mount Sinai. A runner grabs a bottle of water at the athlete's village prior to the start of the 116th running of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton (AP) PFAS have already been linked to several health problems, including cancers, reproductive harm, and immune system suppression. These substances are so widespread that a long-term US government study found 98 per cent of Americans had some amount of PFAs in their blood. While earlier research, including a Harvard study, has linked PFAS to diabetes risk, the Mount Sinai researchers say their study is among the first to explore how these chemicals may disrupt metabolic pathways in diverse, urban populations. The findings come amid global talks on whether limiting PFAS should be included in a forthcoming UN plastics treaty. A growing number of countries, including many in the European Union, have already announced or implemented their own restrictions on PFAs in consumer products.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Forever chemicals in household objects linked to type 2 diabetes, scientists warn
Common 'forever chemicals' found in everyday items like non-stick cookware, food packaging and waterproof clothing could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research has found. The study adds to a growing body of research pointing to a role of plastic-related 'forever chemicals', also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs), in disrupting human metabolism. Researchers in New York analysed health records and blood samples from 360 people, comparing individuals recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to those without. They found that people with higher levels of PFAs in their blood were up to 31 per cent more likely to develop diabetes. PFAS are a class of thousands of human-made chemicals used since the 1940s in stain-resistant furniture, greaseproof food packaging, cosmetics and firefighting foams. They are known for persisting in the environment and the bloodstream, earning them the name 'forever chemicals.' The study showed these chemicals appear to interfere with amino acid biosynthesis and drug metabolism – processes that are critical to the body's blood sugar regulation. 'PFAS are synthetic chemicals that resist heat, oil, water, and stains, and are found in countless everyday consumer products,' said Dr Vishal Midya, senior author of the study and assistant professor of environmental medicine at Mount Sinai 's Icahn School of Medicine. 'Because they don't break down easily, PFAS accumulate in the environment – and in human bodies.' The researchers said their findings point to a need to factor in environmental exposure, not just genetics or lifestyle, when trying to prevent type 2 diabetes. 'Mounting research suggests that PFAS are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, such as obesity, liver disease, and diabetes,' said Dr Damaskini Valvi, associate professor of public health and environmental medicine at Mount Sinai. PFAS have already been linked to several health problems, including cancers, reproductive harm, and immune system suppression. These substances are so widespread that a long-term US government study found 98 per cent of Americans had some amount of PFAs in their blood. While earlier research, including a Harvard study, has linked PFAS to diabetes risk, the Mount Sinai researchers say their study is among the first to explore how these chemicals may disrupt metabolic pathways in diverse, urban populations. The findings come amid global talks on whether limiting PFAS should be included in a forthcoming UN plastics treaty. A growing number of countries, including many in the European Union, have already announced or implemented their own restrictions on PFAs in consumer products.
CNA
6 days ago
- Health
- CNA
Commentary: What the world needs now is a universal ban on ‘forever chemicals'
LONDON: The more you learn about PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – the worse it gets. Though improvements in monitoring and remediation techniques are welcome, what the world needs first and foremost is a universal ban on the chemicals. In fact, we needed it yesterday. There are more than 10,000 PFAS, also known as ' forever chemicals,' and they're used almost everywhere, including in non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, smartphones, packets of microwave popcorn, hair conditioners, firefighting foam, pacemakers, pesticides and dental floss. They don't readily degrade; they also don't stay where we put them. As a result, we can now find PFAS in places such as our blood, human breast milk, Antarctica, wild animals and tap water. In the Netherlands, people have been warned not to eat the eggs from their backyard chickens by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment due to high levels of the chemicals. Though it's not yet clear why home-produced eggs have higher amounts of PFAS than commercial ones, one theory is that earthworms now contain such chemicals, and hens like to eat the worms. An analysis by environmental groups Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Rivers Trust found that nearly all rivers, lakes and ponds in England exceed proposed safety limits, with 85 per cent containing levels at least five times higher. France has banned tap water in 16 communes due to PFAS contamination, while a piece of investigative journalism called the Forever Pollution Project located 23,000 contaminated sites across Europe and a further 21,500 sites of presumptive contamination. I expect we haven't seen the last of the tap water bans. If the scale and extent of the pollution are hard to get your head around, the health implications are worse. PFAS have been linked to increased risk of various types of cancer, fertility problems, birth complications, delays to puberty and weakened immune systems. They've also been associated with increased cholesterol levels and kidney problems. COMPANIES ARE LOBBYING, DRAGGING THEIR FEET We're looking at an issue analogous to climate change – right down to lobbying and cover-ups by PFAS manufacturers. Internal documents from 3M, one of the original and largest producers, and chemical firm DuPont de Nemours revealed that the companies knew the substances were accumulating in people and showing signs of toxicity for decades without telling anyone. While 3M still maintains that their PFAS-containing products are 'safe' for their intended uses in everyday life, in December 2022 the company announced it will discontinue the use of PFAS by the end of 2025. Together, the firms have had to pay billions in lawsuit settlements related to their pollution, with more possibly to come as injury cases hit the courts. As with carbon dioxide, the longer we keep emitting PFAS into the environment, the worse the problem gets and the harder it is to clean up with remediation technologies. While the PFAS market globally is worth just over US$28 billion, the cost of cleaning up all the related pollution in the UK and Europe could be €100 billion (US$116 billion) a year if nothing is done to stem the chemicals' steady flow into the environment. And that doesn't factor in the healthcare costs, which the Nordic Council of Ministers estimates is at least €52 billion annually. Though some consumer brands such as outdoor gear retailer Patagonia and fast-food chain McDonald's have committed to phasing out PFAS from their products and packaging, others have been dragging their feet. A team of researchers, lawyers and journalists has also exposed a huge lobbying campaign against proposed restrictions in Europe, showing entrenched resistance to change. REGULATING ALL PFAS AS A GROUP, NOT INDIVIDUALLY So we need a ban, but so far, we've only seen piecemeal prohibitions targeting either a specific chemical or, in a couple of leading countries, sectors. The import and sale of PFAS-treated clothing, shoes and waterproofing agents will be barred from July 2026 in Denmark, while the chemicals have been banned in paper and board food packaging since 2020. The country has also recently announced a ban on 23 pesticides that can form a very mobile form of PFAS called trifluoroacetic acid. France, meanwhile, has banned PFAS in several consumer product groups, including textiles, cosmetics and ski wax. Cookware, however, has been excluded from the ban after a campaign led by the French maker of Tefal pans, Groupe SEB. Though it's a start, exempting a sector for which safe alternatives are readily available is, frankly, scandalous. A universal ban may be on its way. In 2023, five European Union member states – Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway – submitted a proposal to the European Chemicals Agency, which two scientific committees are now examining. The ban covers both consumer and industrial applications, with time-limited exemptions expected for some uses where there are no alternatives, such as medical devices. What's most significant about the restriction is that it takes a precautionary approach, regulating all 10,000-plus PFAS as a group rather than individually. According to CHEM Trust, a charity focused on harmful synthetic chemicals, under the current rate of regulation that analyses each chemical individually, it would take more than 40,000 years to get through them all. WE KNOW THAT RESTRICTIONS HELP So the EU ban will be a huge step forward with positive impacts beyond its borders. But we'll be waiting a while for it to come into effect – if everything goes smoothly, we're likely looking at 2028 before sectors transition to new rules. Meanwhile, progress elsewhere is pitiful. The United Kingdom government published an interim position on PFAS management in June, but this has been criticised by scientists for opting not to target all chemicals at once and instead creating their own groupings. Not only is this risky, failing to regulate compounds that lack toxicity data, but it lacks urgency. In the United States, the Trump administration has pulled nearly US$15 million in research into PFAS contamination of farmland, while the Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to rescind drinking water limits for four forever chemicals. Of course, even banning the use of all PFAS tomorrow won't do anything for the substances already in our bodies and drinking water. But we know that restrictions help. Two chemicals – PFOS and PFOA – are already banned in Europe. A 2023 study showed that blood concentrations of the chemicals have declined substantially over time in Denmark.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
US wetlands ‘restored' using treated sewage tainted with forever chemicals
Many of the nation's wetlands are being filled with toxic Pfas 'forever chemicals' as wastewater treatment plant effluent tainted with the compounds is increasingly used to restore swampland and other waters. The practice threatens wildlife, food and drinking water sources, environmental advocates warn. Effluent is the liquid discharged by wastewater treatment plants after it 'disinfects' sewage in the nation's sewer system. The treatment process largely kills pathogens and the water is high in nutrients that help plants grow, so on one level it is beneficial to struggling ecosystems. But the treatment process does not address any of the hundreds of thousands of chemicals potentially discharged into sewers, including Pfas. Testing has found effluent virtually always contains Pfas at concerning levels, but the practice of using it for wetland restoration is still presented as an environmentally friendly measure. 'There's a huge dark side to this whole business of municipalities using effluent that's carrying loads of Pfas and other toxic materials and calling it 'wetland restoration',' said James Aronson, a restoration ecologist and president of Ecological Health Network non-profit. 'It's truly the worst kind of lying to the public.' Pfas are a class of about 15,000 compounds that are dubbed 'forever chemicals' because they do not naturally break down, and accumulate in the human body and environment. The chemicals are linked to a range of serious health problems such as cancer, liver disease, kidney issues, high cholesterol, birth defects and decreased immunity. The volume of wastewater that plants treat each day makes it virtually impossible to efficiently remove chemicals. Still, effluent has been used to recharge hundreds of wetlands across the country, as well as some rivers and aquifers, when they dry up or are otherwise degraded by human activity. Among the largest projects are in Louisiana, which has increased its use of effluent to restore the bayou and protect against coastal erosion that is in part driven by the installation of levee systems. Florida has in place similar programs aimed at regenerating the Everglades and shorelines. Meanwhile, some rivers in the south-west, like the Trinity River near Dallas, are 'almost entirely' effluent, while in California the Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and other rivers are 'effluent dominated'. Orange county, California, now uses effluent to recharge its aquifer that provides drinking water for 2.5 million people. At the same time, the country's water districts are spending an estimated $1.8bn to install technology that will remove Pfas and other pollutants from the water they pull from the aquifer. The levels of Pfas in effluent at 200 California wastewater treatment plants were almost all thousands of times above the level that the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for some compounds, recent research found. The practice is often billed as 'recycling water' and 'green', but advocates say the terms are misleading because toxic waste is literally being pumped unchecked into the environment. It's not just Pfas – microplastics, heavy metals and other toxins have been found at high levels in effluent. Few regulations around chemicals exist, and though the wastewater industry knows the scale of the problem. It's a 'don't ask, don't tell' issue, said Laura Orlando, a civil engineer with Just Zero non-profit who has worked on waste management design. 'There's lots of hype about recycling and such, but nothing about public health, because they're following the rules – which are not protective of public or ecosystem health,' Orlando said. Though little research into how the levels of Pfas in effluent used to restore wetlands affects wildlife exists, the chemicals can have consequences for animals. For example, in North Carolina, where Pfas discharged from industrial sources polluted wetlands, the chemicals were thought to be behind health problems similar to lupus in alligators and immune impacts on pelicans. 'We're talking about ecosystem health,' Aronson said. 'It's the food web, and soil, animal, and water interactions – everything gets degraded and poisoned, and it's the opposite of restoration.' There is some potential to use some types of wetlands to treat effluent that can then be released as truly clean water. 'Constructed wetlands' are filled with effluent and the inflow and outflow of water is controlled. Those can be filled with plants that take up Pfas and other contaminants. The plants would have to be disposed of in hazardous waste facilities. While there are some efforts to explore how this could work on a broad scale, the chemicals and toxins are a problem that few in the wastewater industry are thinking about, Orlando said. 'Unless you acknowledge the problem you can't fix the problem and we have to examine these words like 'clean' and 'safe',' she said.
