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   From: drooler@gmail.com   
      
   The contamination of US drinking water with manmade “forever chemicals” is   
   far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found   
   in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an   
   environmental watchdog group.   
      
   The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as   
   perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Some have been linked to cancers,   
   liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems.   
      
   The findings here by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) show the   
   group’s previous estimate in 2018, based on unpublished US Environmental   
   Protection Agency (EPA) data, that 110 million Americans may be   
   contaminated with PFAS, could be far too low.   
      
   “It’s nearly impossible to avoid contaminated drinking water from these   
   chemicals,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of   
   the report.   
      
   The chemicals were used in products like Teflon and Scotchguard and in   
   firefighting foam. Some are used in a variety of other products and   
   industrial processes, and their replacements also pose risks.   
      
   Of tap water samples taken by EWG from 44 sites in 31 states and   
   Washington DC, only one location, Meridian, Mississippi, which relies on   
   700ft (215m) deep wells, had no detectable PFAS. Only Seattle and   
   Tuscaloosa, Alabama had levels below 1 part per trillion (PPT), the limit   
   EWG recommends.   
      
   In addition, EWG found that on average six to seven PFAS compounds were   
   found at the tested sites, and the effects on health of the mixtures are   
   little understood. “Everyone’s really exposed to a toxic soup of these   
   PFAS chemicals,” Andrews said.   
      
   In 34 places where EWG’s tests found PFAS, contamination had not been   
   publicly reported by the EPA or state environmental agencies.   
      
   The EPA has known since at least 2001 about the problem of PFAS in   
   drinking water but has so far failed to set an enforceable, nationwide   
   legal limit. The EPA said early last year it would begin the process to   
   set limits on two of the chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.   
      
   The EPA said it has helped states and communities address PFAS and that it   
   is working to put limits on the two main chemicals but did not give a   
   timeline.   
      
   In 2018 a draft report from an office of the US Department of Health and   
   Human Services said the risk level for exposure to the chemicals should be   
   up to 10 times lower than the 70 PPT threshold the EPA recommends. The   
   White House and the EPA had tried to stop the report from being published.   
      
   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/22/us-drinking-water-   
   contamination-forever-chemicals-pfas   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)