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

#91

Post by rsync » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:10 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.

"People _really_ need to stop laundering synthetics."

I thought the major, overwhelming source of microplastic pollution was from plastic beads in makeup and skin products.

Are synthetic fabrics, laundered, a significant source ?

Genuinely curious and would appreciate a citation.

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

#92

Post by zerohp » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

hokkos wrote: post #75

ksec wrote: post #61

What are the current best Home Water Filter we could get? Are the Brita MAXTRA+ any good? And which one is the most affordable? ( We now need to paid extra money to get drinking water, in many ways I think this is backward as a society )

Berkey Filters : https://www.berkeyfilters.com/ https://theberkey.com/blogs/water-filter/the-best-water-filt...

Are there any independent tests to back up the claims made about Berkey filters? I was given a Berkey filter and I spent some time trying to find independent validation of their claims. All I could find were just circular references between "sources" in the scammy "natural" health industry.

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

#93

Post by vertexFarm » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:18 PM UTC

okmokmz wrote: post #31

empath75 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Wrong "Allaire found the amount of violations varied by year, affecting as many as 45 million people in some years, representing about 28% of the U.S. population." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/02/12/tens-m... "Tainted tap water isn’t just a problem in Flint, Michigan. In any given year from 1982 to 2015, somewhere between 9 million and 45 million Americans got their drinking water from a source tha…

You've essentially proven their point. Outside a few problem areas, water in the US is remarkably safe and clean. The US population minus "nine to 45 million" definitely qualifies as "most places" in America. And that's not even close to 28%, by the way.

Most people in the world have it far worse off than the US. We tend to easily fly into a panic and start drinking bottled water instead, which only pumps ever more plastic and carbon into the biosphere. That exact phenomenon happened in Austin recently. People went into a prepper panic and raided the grocery stores anyway, completely cleaning out all the bottled water in the city. Again. The water was perfectly fine, it turns out.

My travels through the third world have made me more aware of how much we take our highly reliable infrastructure for granted. Of course we still have some problems to work out, but acting like most tap water is unsafe is hyperbolic and just not helpful.

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

#94

Post by DanBC » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:19 PM UTC

rsync wrote: post #91

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.

"People _really_ need to stop laundering synthetics." I thought the major, overwhelming source of microplastic pollution was from plastic beads in makeup and skin products. Are synthetic fabrics, laundered, a significant source ? Genuinely curious and would appreciate a citation.

Clothing is the main source of microplastics. Everyone wears and washes clothing. Lots of people don't have microbeads in their cosmetics.

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jun/29...

> Multiple studies have shown synthetic fibers to make up the lion’s share of microplastics found in oceans, rivers and lakes, and clothes made from synthetics (polyester, nylon, and so on) are widely implicated as the source of that pollution.

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

#95

Post by wonderwonder » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:20 PM UTC

kodablah wrote: post #69

resters wrote: post #51

It's nice to see the local officials concerned and doing something about the problem, but in many municipalities the local officials are part of the problem. I think that the mayor of every city should be required to eat a fish caught in the most polluted stream that runs through the city, and state governors should be required to eat a fish caught from the most polluted stream in the state. To wash it down, each sho…

Although surely not serious, lots of naivete here. This assumes everyone values personal health over financial health. This prevents anyone from wanting to get elected to fix an existing problem. This places guilt even on the innocent if they are subjected to upstream or state-level pollution. On and on and on. You either have a problem with existing laws not being enforced or there not being laws to enforce concerni…

The root of the problem is that many value their financial health over the personal health of others. I would argue that no government office should be able to have water filters, bottled water or 5 gallon jugs etc. Obviously individual employees are free to bring in whatever they want to work but the office should only provide the same tap water used by citizens.

Any company whether private or partially county/municipality owned such as power plants that gets a license to dump into nearby bodies of water should be forced to follow the same rules. I personally find it unlikely that flint would not have happened if local and state level officials had been forced to drink the water. The outbreak of legionaries disease after the fact was especially egregious.

I live in a decent middle class suburb and still pay $100 per month to have spring water delivered because known carcinogens have been found in the water supply for years now. I spoke to the city commissionaire about it and his brief response was well they keep raising the requirements so its not really his fault. They have been out of compliance for at least the 4+ years I have been here, likely far longer. What are the consequences for the families that cannot afford $100 per month extra or don't take the time to read the water reports?

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

#96

Post by Canadauni » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:21 PM UTC

I find this interesting as in my undergrad I was working with a 3M supplied poly-fluorinated ether which was said to be a highly stable compound. We were breaking it apart with all manner of amine compounds producing various levels of HF and and HF2 along with poly-fluorinated amides that had a small amount of research mostly pointing to negative environmental impacts. Nothing really came of it as my reactions had no applications relevant to the goals of the lab I was working in.

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

#97

Post by resters » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:29 PM UTC

kodablah wrote: post #69

resters wrote: post #51

It's nice to see the local officials concerned and doing something about the problem, but in many municipalities the local officials are part of the problem. I think that the mayor of every city should be required to eat a fish caught in the most polluted stream that runs through the city, and state governors should be required to eat a fish caught from the most polluted stream in the state. To wash it down, each sho…

Although surely not serious, lots of naivete here. This assumes everyone values personal health over financial health. This prevents anyone from wanting to get elected to fix an existing problem. This places guilt even on the innocent if they are subjected to upstream or state-level pollution. On and on and on. You either have a problem with existing laws not being enforced or there not being laws to enforce concerni…

> This happens in many other areas of concern too.

Yes, elected officials should also be required to spend 24 consecutive hours each month in the inmate population of the local jail, prison, etc. to ensure that it offers safe and humane conditions.

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

#98

Post by wonderwonder » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:33 PM UTC

resters wrote: post #97

kodablah wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although surely not serious, lots of naivete here. This assumes everyone values personal health over financial health. This prevents anyone from wanting to get elected to fix an existing problem. This places guilt even on the innocent if they are subjected to upstream or state-level pollution. On and on and on. You either have a problem with existing laws not being enforced or there not being laws to enforce concerni…

> This happens in many other areas of concern too. Yes, elected officials should also be required to spend 24 consecutive hours each month in the inmate population of the local jail, prison, etc. to ensure that it offers safe and humane conditions.

I would support this. The fact that the government can seize you, force you to live among people who are known to be violent and then not take responsibility when someone is assaulted or killed is insane. Criminal or not, if your person is under government control, your safety and health should be absolutely guaranteed.

On a side note the concept of private prisons is also insane. That a private company can hold you for profit is not right.

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

#99

Post by anitil » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

resters wrote: post #51

It's nice to see the local officials concerned and doing something about the problem, but in many municipalities the local officials are part of the problem. I think that the mayor of every city should be required to eat a fish caught in the most polluted stream that runs through the city, and state governors should be required to eat a fish caught from the most polluted stream in the state. To wash it down, each sho…

This is obviously hearsay, but I believe there are regulations in Aus that towns that discharge treated water have to discharge it upstream of their town, for just this reason.

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

#100

Post by kayhi » Mon, Nov 05, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

quasse wrote: post #64

kayhi wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many places in Alaska and would image other remote areas of other northern states as well.

Many places in AK unfortunately have a history of barely-regulated mining [1], which is now being joined by a push to expand and deregulate the oil and gas industry in those areas [2]. Unfortunately remote is no guarantee of clean and in some cases might even mean the opposite because being out of the public eye allows companies to ignore externalities that they would otherwise have to take responsibility for. [1] ht…

Great point, but the articles mentions extremely small areas compared to the entire state over the period of decades.