Toxic 'forever chemicals' are everywhere. The EPA has a new plan to crack down.

#HootHootDontPollute said the Wise Owl Let's be sure to #EndtheDrugwar and #GoHolistic because #BigHarmaisAlsoPoisoningPeoplewithHighlyToxicForeverChemicals (not referring to every thing they want to monopolize) and the #MedicalIndustrialComplex has been and still is an atrocity in itself. Harming people and Our Mother Earth. They have been actually creating and causing viruses, diseases etc..that they pretend to have a way to combat, then cause more harm and take in lots of revenue. Laughing all the way to the bank. Who is laughing now? Not me, for it is no laughing matter! The false immunization tactics and harmful vaccines are a continuation of the evil ways, thievery, lies, manmade diseases and genocide inflicted on our Native American people Since 1492 and still on the masses of every race of the present-day times. Furthermore: False pretenses, lies, and propaganda that are used to sell any product or in a different scenario used to fool and take from someone, is because of something else that is highly toxic, which is greed. The #PrisonIndustrialComplex and #MilitaryIndustrialComplex are also driven by greed and causing harm to people and our planet. As #NativeAmericans: Remember we had no diseases, institutions, courts, prisons, pollution, toxic chemicals, unhealthy people, or an unhealthy environment. So there was never any need for regulation or any offices such as the EPA etc...We only took what we need. We never had greed! #FightingAgainstTerrorismSince1492 We #NeverForget our #Allies nor our #Adversaries #StoptheMadness #DeColonize and Take a Stand #AllNationsRise and #Demand our rightful place on our Creator given land; #LandBack and truly living; happy, healthy, safe, and free, in love, peace, and harmony. #ThinkBalance & #InAGoodway A-HO' Go Holistic! Purple Hearts Missions Possible & Healthy Horizons (The Original); Native American Warriorz Task Force Heart Line 💜1-888-383-4838 Putting an end to all crimes against humanity and our Mother Earth. N.O.W.! ~LIVE IN LOVE~ Toxic 'forever chemicals' are everywhere. The EPA has a new plan to crack down. The Biden administration announced a three-year initiative to regulate and restrict the use of these chemicals, found in everything from cosmetics to food packaging. Create your free profile or log in to save this article Oct. 18, 2021, 7:06 AM CDT / Updated Oct. 18, 2021, 11:05 AM CDT By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Frank Thorp V WARMINSTER, Pa. — Hope Grosse thought she had an idyllic childhood. Her house sat next to the former Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, and the land around the base was her playground. She and her friends would run to the chain link fence and watch the service members put out plane crash fires. “It was really exciting,” she said. At the time, Grosse said she had no idea her proximity to the Navy base might have exposed her to dangerous chemicals called PFAS, which the U.S. military used in firefighting foam. At 25, Grosse developed melanoma, and said her father died of a brain tumor at age 52. “I blame the federal government," said Grosse, now 57. "Our government has poisoned us and they continue to do nothing about it.” On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a three-year initiative to regulate PFAS and restrict their use. U.S. manufacturers still use the chemicals, and public water systems are not required to monitor for any PFAS. PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they never break down and remain present in the human body. The chemicals seeped into the groundwater around the Warminster naval base for decades, according to the EPA. “We are acting with a sense of urgency,” Michael Regan, the EPA administrator, said in an interview with NBC News. “I’ve seen firsthand the exposure from these chemical compounds and what it does to a family’s confidence, what it does to a mother who is concerned about the long-term impacts." PFAS is a class of chemicals that have a carbon fluorine bond that makes them extremely effective but nearly impossible to break down. PFAS are found in more than 2,300 locations across the country, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy group. The chemicals have been linked to a long list of health problems, including high cholesterol, a suppressed immune system, infertility, some cancers and reduced efficacy of vaccines, according to the EPA. by Taboola Sponsored Stories People consume the chemical after it leaks into the ground water or is released into the air. Two of the biggest polluters are the Department of Defense and the companies that manufacture the chemical, including Chemours, 3M and Dupont. But people also ingest PFAS through consumer products. The compound makes products long-lasting, waterproof or greaseproof, and is found in food packaging like pizza boxes, as well as nonstick pans, waterproof clothes and shoes, and stain resistant carpets. A recent study found that half of cosmetics products contain PFAS. Scott Faber, senior vice president for governmental affairs at the Environmental Working Group, said chemical companies “have understood the risks of these chemicals since the 1950s." Previous administrations have also known about the dangers of PFAS but only preliminary action was taken. The EPA began monitoring water near contaminated sites less than a decade ago but has done little to remedy the problem. “They have eluded regulation but that ends right now," Regan said. "This administration is taking action.” The EPA regulates 90 contaminates in drinking water but not PFAS. The EPA is now creating a plan to implement new national drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, two classes of PFAS, by the fall of 2023. The EPA is also creating rules to stop companies from dumping PFAS into waterways, launching a national testing strategy, publishing toxicity assessments of PFAS chemicals and studying PFAS in fish. The U.S. Navy told NBC News that it has plans to ban PFAS from its firefighting foam by Oct. 1, 2023, as directed by Congress. What the government isn’t doing is an outright ban, which Europe has done for many PFAS chemicals. “What we have to do is move very strategically through the regulatory process, and we’re going to do that in an expedited timeline,” Regan said. The American Chemistry Council, the lobby group that represents the chemical manufacturers, said in a statement that the industry supports "science-based" regulation of PFAS. "But all PFAS are not the same, and they should not all be regulated the same way," the statement said. This month, California banned PFAS from being used in baby and toddler products. Grosse is co-founder of Buxmont Coalition for Safe Water in Pennsylvania, with Joanne Stanton. In a statement, the group urged EPA to quickly develop standards for PFAS in drinking water. "The EPA has just announced all important first steps in regulating these harmful chemicals, but it does not go far enough to protect American citizens today,'' the group said. At the former naval base in Warminster, the Department of Defense tested the water in 2016 and found 36,000 parts per trillion of PFAS, far above the 70 parts per trillion the EPA recommends as acceptable. The U.S. Navy said that it has started to filter the groundwater and has worked with the town to bring in water from other parts of the state that is not contaminated. But for Grosse, it’s long overdue.

Toxic 'forever chemicals' are everywhere. The EPA has a new plan to crack down.