Rainwater Everywhere On Earth Contains Forever Chemicals That Cause Cancer

Forever chemicals are a group of man-made hazardous products known as PFAS, which stands for perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, some of which have been linked to human cancer. In recent decades they have spread globally through waterways, oceans, soils and the atmosphere and as a result can now be found in rainwater and snow in even the most remote locations on Earth – from Antarctica to Tibet Plateau. he said. Guideline values ​​for PFASs in drinking water, surface water and soils have been revised downward dramatically due to greater understanding of their toxicity and the threats they pose to health and the natural world. The changes mean that levels of these chemicals in rainwater “are now ubiquitous above guideline levels”, according to researchers from Stockholm University and ETH Zurich. “There has been a dramatic drop in guideline values ​​for PFAS in drinking water over the past 20 years,” said Ian Cousins, the study’s lead author and professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University. “For example, the drinking water guideline value for a well-known substance in the PFAS class, the carcinogenic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been reduced by 37.5 million times in the US.” He added: “Based on the latest US guidelines for PFOA in drinking water, rainwater everywhere will be deemed unsafe to drink.” “Although in the industrialized world we don’t often drink rainwater, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and it supplies many of our drinking water sources,” Professor Cousins ​​said. To study the prevalence of these chemicals, the Stockholm University team conducted laboratory and field work on the atmospheric presence and transport of PFAS over the past decade. They found that levels of some harmful PFASs in the atmosphere are not decreasing significantly despite their phase-out by the major manufacturer, 3M, as early as two decades ago. PFASs are known to be extremely persistent – ​​hence known as “forever chemicals” – but their continued presence in the atmosphere is also due to their properties and natural processes that continuously recycle PFASs into the atmosphere from the surface environment. A key way in which PFASs are continuously transported into the atmosphere is through transport from seawater to sea air via marine spray aerosols, which is another active area of ​​research for the Stockholm University team. “The extreme persistence and continued global cycling of some PFASs will lead to continued excess of [water quality] guidelines,” said Professor Martin Scheringer, co-author of the study and based at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. “So now, because of the global spread of PFAS, environmental media everywhere will exceed environmental quality guidelines designed to protect human health, and there is very little we can do to reduce PFAS contamination.” “In other words, it makes sense to set a planetary threshold specifically for PFAS, and as we conclude in the paper, that threshold has now been exceeded,” he added. The research team noted that PFASs have been linked to a wide range of serious health harms, including cancer, learning and behavioral problems in children, infertility and pregnancy complications, elevated cholesterol and immune system problems. Dr Jane Muncke, chief executive of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zurich, who was not involved in the research, said: “It cannot be that a few benefit financially while contaminating the drinking water for millions and causing serious health problems. “ The huge sums it will cost to reduce PFAS in drinking water to levels that are safe based on current scientific understanding must be paid for by the industry that produces and uses these toxic chemicals. The time for action is now.” The research is published as a perspective article in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

title: “Rainwater Everywhere On Earth Contains Forever Chemicals That Cause Cancer " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-22” author: “Frances Bennett”

Forever chemicals are a group of man-made hazardous products known as PFAS, which stands for perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, some of which have been linked to human cancer. In recent decades they have spread globally through waterways, oceans, soils and the atmosphere and as a result can now be found in rainwater and snow in even the most remote locations on Earth – from Antarctica to Tibet Plateau. he said. Guideline values ​​for PFASs in drinking water, surface water and soils have been revised downward dramatically due to greater understanding of their toxicity and the threats they pose to health and the natural world. The changes mean that levels of these chemicals in rainwater “are now ubiquitous above guideline levels”, according to researchers from Stockholm University and ETH Zurich. “There has been a dramatic drop in guideline values ​​for PFAS in drinking water over the past 20 years,” said Ian Cousins, the study’s lead author and professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University. “For example, the drinking water guideline value for a well-known substance in the PFAS class, the carcinogenic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been reduced by 37.5 million times in the US.” He added: “Based on the latest US guidelines for PFOA in drinking water, rainwater everywhere will be deemed unsafe to drink.” “Although in the industrialized world we don’t often drink rainwater, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and it supplies many of our drinking water sources,” Professor Cousins ​​said. To study the prevalence of these chemicals, the Stockholm University team conducted laboratory and field work on the atmospheric presence and transport of PFAS over the past decade. They found that levels of some harmful PFASs in the atmosphere are not decreasing significantly despite their phase-out by the major manufacturer, 3M, as early as two decades ago. PFASs are known to be extremely persistent – ​​hence known as “forever chemicals” – but their continued presence in the atmosphere is also due to their properties and natural processes that continuously recycle PFASs into the atmosphere from the surface environment. A key way in which PFASs are continuously transported into the atmosphere is through transport from seawater to sea air via marine spray aerosols, which is another active area of ​​research for the Stockholm University team. “The extreme persistence and continued global cycling of some PFASs will lead to continued excess of [water quality] guidelines,” said Professor Martin Scheringer, co-author of the study and based at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. “So now, because of the global spread of PFAS, environmental media everywhere will exceed environmental quality guidelines designed to protect human health, and there is very little we can do to reduce PFAS contamination.” “In other words, it makes sense to set a planetary threshold specifically for PFAS, and as we conclude in the paper, that threshold has now been exceeded,” he added. The research team noted that PFASs have been linked to a wide range of serious health harms, including cancer, learning and behavioral problems in children, infertility and pregnancy complications, elevated cholesterol and immune system problems. Dr Jane Muncke, chief executive of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zurich, who was not involved in the research, said: “It cannot be that a few benefit financially while contaminating the drinking water for millions and causing serious health problems. “ The huge sums it will cost to reduce PFAS in drinking water to levels that are safe based on current scientific understanding must be paid for by the industry that produces and uses these toxic chemicals. The time for action is now.” The research is published as a perspective article in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.