Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water • Hacker News Board

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#21

Post by steve_adams_86 » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:40 PM UTC

tshannon wrote: post #8

cronix wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More and more microplastics are showing up in drinking water because the particles are so small. They seem to be mostly coming from our clothing released during washing, which is increasingly made of synthetic materials. "The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%, with plastic fibres found in tap water sampled at sites including Congress buildings, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, and Tr…

Has there been any conclusive studies yet that say what impact if any microplastics have on us?

It can harm small organisms at the very least. Things like zooplankton can have their bodily processes interrupted by ingesting the materials. This indicates it can result in death: http://www.ices.dk/news-and-events/symposia/zp6/Pages/Effect...

Other studies indicating harm are available, while others have shown mixed results. For example, one where polystyrene microplastics depress and then appear to stimulate growth of algae: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004565351...

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#22

Post by rayiner » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

dmm wrote: post #4

empath75 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much everywhere. Tap water in the us is perfectly safe in most places.

The absence of specific dangers is not the same as safety, but the former is all that water supply testing can provide.

We test for things that are really dangerous (e. coli, arsenic, heavy metals, etc.). If microplastics were dangerous like those things, it would be pretty obvious by now.

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#23

Post by blacksmith_tb » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #12

cronix wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More and more microplastics are showing up in drinking water because the particles are so small. They seem to be mostly coming from our clothing released during washing, which is increasingly made of synthetic materials. "The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%, with plastic fibres found in tap water sampled at sites including Congress buildings, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, and Tr…

People _really_ need to stop laundering synthetics. The amount of plastic and other material that sheds into our water is stunning.

I think that blames the victims a bit too much, it's analogous to "people need to stop buying food in single-use plastics" - I would put the onus on the manufacturers to fix their products and their distribution, rather than the end users. What's the alternative to laundering your clothing, realistically?

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#24

Post by tshannon » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

alexandercrohde wrote: post #18

andreygrehov wrote: post #9

Curious, is there an easy way to test the water quality at home?

I've looked into this myself. Unfortunately it's not practical. Firstly, there are a number of different chemicals you might test for. Secondly, for chemicals that are dangerous at 1ppb only gas-chemotography / mass-spectrometry can detect that, which would cost upward of $500 per test per chemical and be done at a university lab. Might be more practical to only drink filtered or distilled water. Normal water filters…

Carbon filters clean up "some" of them, but not all. Reverse Osmosis is better if you can afford it.

The filtering really should be done by the city / government on an industrial scale (like CG did in the article) where it's not only more cost efficient, but also their responsibility.

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#25

Post by post_break » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

expectsomuch wrote: post #13

post_break wrote: post #11

Chemicals in the drinking water, plastic in the salt. It's either you embrace ignorance or live in fear of what is in your food, drink, air. Kind of depressing.

Um, I believe there is another alternative, wherein we use that information to regulate the use and release of those chemicals and microplastics....

My point isn't that we should just accept this, just that it's already in the food supply.

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#26

Post by chinathrow » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:50 PM UTC

alexandercrohde wrote: post #20

"Last November, she announced that areas around the Cottage Grove plant had elevated levels of some cancers including childhood cancers , and lower fertility. And, she said in court filings, 3M was to blame." - I wonder if chemicals are the cause of the 50% drop in male sperm count in developed countries [over the last 30 years].

I wonder the same. Might these all be signs of the great filter at work?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#27

Post by jfrankamp » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:52 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #15

BitterSweets wrote: post #2

Is there anywhere in the US that you can live without fear or worry of having contaminated water or air?

Your fear can of course be anywhere. Rational fear, not so much outside maybe Flint Michigan.

I'd say the opposite, but maybe not so much on the fear front. Superfund sites are everywhere, p2.5 is generated by every diesel on the road. A level of human generated poison/contamination is everywhere. Low levels of pesticides, herbicides and microplastics are part of our lives. They have a cost and in many cases the cost is unknown, and maybe unquantifiable without tremendous cost. These are just facts, not things to be feared so much as motivation to answer in the affirmative when there is a policy choice re: "hey should we study why there is a worldwide loss of flying insects, bee colony collapse?, should we incentivize less polluting tech?" etc.

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#28

Post by Spooky23 » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 6:53 PM UTC

BitterSweets wrote: post #2

Is there anywhere in the US that you can live without fear or worry of having contaminated water or air?

Yes, you need to be aware of things though, especially if you aren’t using municipal water.

Look for superfund sites, former dumps, former military facilities, etc and avoid them. Even things like army depots and train depots. If you’re in an area with well water, understand what’s upstream.

In an old city, test the soil if you grow vegetables in the yard, you may have coal ash or other nasties.

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#29

Post by okmokmz » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 7:03 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #15

BitterSweets wrote: post #2

Is there anywhere in the US that you can live without fear or worry of having contaminated water or air?

Your fear can of course be anywhere. Rational fear, not so much outside maybe Flint Michigan.

>Rational fear, not so much outside maybe Flint Michigan.

You're deluding yourself if you believe Flint is the only location in the US where you need to be worried about contaminated or otherwise unsafe water

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/02/12/tens-m...

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/millions-americans-dr...

Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water

#30

Post by ada1981 » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #23

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People _really_ need to stop laundering synthetics. The amount of plastic and other material that sheds into our water is stunning.

I think that blames the victims a bit too much, it's analogous to "people need to stop buying food in single-use plastics" - I would put the onus on the manufacturers to fix their products and their distribution, rather than the end users. What's the alternative to laundering your clothing, realistically?

Don’t buy synthetics is a start.

Vote to pass legislation that taxes synthetics and the money is used for mitigation.

Company’s make what consumers want.