I'm following this story because our local air force base (in Australia) used 3M firefighting foam for decades, and the run-off has contaminated residential properties, including creeks where people used to fish. The Australian government and Defence Force have basically tried to rely on 3M's health advice to tell everyone that their cancers aren't related to the chemicals, but nobody really trusts them.
Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
121–130 of 177 posts
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#122"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].
The answer is almost definitely yes, at least in great part. Furthermore, the top two killers in America are heart disease and cancer. 80% of heart disease is preventable by diet - avoiding foods that cause insulin resistance (sugar) and gut dysfunction (chemicals). The top cancer and many others are triggered by environmental variables (chemicals). And I know I am going to be downvoted for not citing, maybe someone…
The answer about heart disease, cancer, etc seems to be dietary but not necessarily the chemical industry’s fault: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die/
[Edit: In general, I should say, but these chemicals in concentrations like those in the article are certainly cancer promoters.]
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Even the ancient Egyptians knew arsenic was toxic. Plastics haven’t been around nearly as long.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#124I believe we will need a great deal of nanoscale filters.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#125Earlier 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'd be happy if they were just forced to use public transit for all transportation 3 days a month.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
What kind of equipment would you need to check your drinking water for any kind of contamination? What would it cost? Just curious.
"What kind of equipment would you need to check your drinking water for any kind of contamination? What would it cost?" You need to send it away for testing - it would be impractical to home test for all of the things you'd want to test for. It's likely that your local municipality has a testing service that you can send water into for $50 or $100 and have rough testing done for lead and e-coli and crypto and so on.…
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Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#127Earlier 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…
"Although surely not serious ..." Not your parent but I took it seriously and I think "skin in the game" structures like this should be taken very seriously - they are likely the best mechanisms for aligning interests. "This assumes everyone values personal health over financial health." Very easy to solve this one - the elected official doesn't eat the fish and drink the water, their children do . "This prevents any…
This is easy to fix for motivated parties though. Imagine that pro wrestling circus but with fish and water and better staged.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#128Is there anywhere in the US that you can live without fear or worry of having contaminated water or air?
There isn't anywhere in the world where you can live without fear or worry of contaminated water or air. Microplastics for example have been found in: sea salt - https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/sea-sa... water - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/15/micropla... air - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/people-m... poop - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mic…
This sounds very fear mongery. I bet you'd get more radiation from eating a Banana than the residual radiation of every nuclear test combined.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#129I'm a libertarian, and I believe in the free market above all else, so it's important to not regulate this, because whatever else happens will inevitably be worse.
Re: Cancer-Linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're probably getting other exposures like BPA from the plastic water bottles.
BPA free, but you are right in that I am probably getting something from the plastics.
FYI, the replacement for BPA might not be any better. One writeup: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-...