Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling • Hacker News Board

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#111

Post by meko » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 7:44 AM UTC

bitexploder wrote: post #24

hu3 wrote: post #6

This is really bad. Most bad things in life are reversible but this degree of health damage isn't. May everyone responsible for this be exemplarily punished to deter this kind of disregard for human life from happening again. > Since then, the Defense Department has admitted that it allowed a firefighting foam to slip into at least 55 drinking water systems at military bases around the globe, sometimes for generation…

They will not be punished. They never are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_of_the_United_... The "problems" kill people. From the governments perspective this soft, civilian side, collateral damage is a required cost of our military machine. Inside of…

It's important to note that 'the government' you mention, is doing the poisoning, is actually through private companies.

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#112

Post by londons_explore » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 9:10 AM UTC

js2 wrote: post #25

I grew up drinking and bathing in the toxic waters around a military base in North Carolina. Thirty years later, I went back to investigate. : https://psmag.com/environment/what-happened-at-camp-lejeune From the 1950s until at least 1985, the drinking water was contaminated with toxic chemicals at levels 240 to 3400 times higher than what is permitted by safety standards. ... Camp Lejeune has been characterized as a…

In general, overseas millitary based have no concern for the health or well-being of the people around them without US passports.

They won't deliberately give them all cancer, but they also won't raise a finger to prevent it.

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#113

Post by lotsofpulp » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 9:36 AM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #70

poizan42 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> though I no longer get annual flu shots and lots of people are very quick to demonize me as an antivaxxer over that detail. I assume you are american? Here on the other side of the pond (I'm in Denmark) the flu shot is only being recommended for weakened and old people and is not generally something that people get. Translated from https://www.ssi.dk/vaccinationer/influenzavaccination/sporgs... : > Why is vaccinati…

The vaccination is also recommended for some professional groups, eg healthcare workers.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#114

Post by hu3 » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 1:23 PM UTC

apta wrote: post #110

hu3 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not paranoid in the least. My family always went to great lengths to ensure we never had to drink tap water. Always buying and stocking mineral water from respectable brands. In my generation I'm going a bit further and using filters for shower/tap water. And I plan to test the mineral water brands we consume at least once a year.

> And I plan to test the mineral water brands we consume at least once a year. How do you conduct these tests out of curiosity?

Don't know exactly what labs I'll use yet. It depends on where you live.

This is the article that got me interested: http://blogs.worldbank.org/water/how-test-water-quality-chem...

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#115

Post by bitexploder » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 2:05 PM UTC

meko wrote: post #111

bitexploder wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will not be punished. They never are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_of_the_United_... The "problems" kill people. From the governments perspective this soft, civilian side, collateral damage is a required cost of our military machine. Inside of…

It's important to note that 'the government' you mention, is doing the poisoning, is actually through private companies.

True. But they gained tremendous protection via the govt. There is at least a small chance a company is fined if they do something egregious. (Exxon Valdez). It is rare though.

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#116

Post by specialist » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 5:32 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #18

I was a military wife for a lot of years. I have very serious health problems. Doctors officially blame that on my genes, which can't be changed, so it's a de facto means to throw their hands in the air and call me unfixable. I think environmental factors are a big part of the problem and that those can be addressed. I lived on a military base for 2.75 years where there was one tap in the house labeled "potable water…

"...turning my health around while my doctor expressed zero curiosity about my improvement, advised me other patients needed him more and scheduled me fewer appointments."

I can relate.

Noobs should also know that few doctors will escalate if they don't know how to help you.

USA healthcare providers are playing twenty question lightning rounds. Ask as many questions as your 15 minute time window permits. Oops, time's up. Next!

Medicine has changed dramatically the 20+ years since my transplant. Patient care is no longer the norm.

Which is why I now pay extra for "concierge" style healthcare from my primary doctor. She can now afford (time, money) to do whatever it takes to fix each new problem.

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#117

Post by DoreenMichele » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

specialist wrote: post #116

DoreenMichele wrote: post #18

I was a military wife for a lot of years. I have very serious health problems. Doctors officially blame that on my genes, which can't be changed, so it's a de facto means to throw their hands in the air and call me unfixable. I think environmental factors are a big part of the problem and that those can be addressed. I lived on a military base for 2.75 years where there was one tap in the house labeled "potable water…

"...turning my health around while my doctor expressed zero curiosity about my improvement, advised me other patients needed him more and scheduled me fewer appointments." I can relate. Noobs should also know that few doctors will escalate if they don't know how to help you. USA healthcare providers are playing twenty question lightning rounds. Ask as many questions as your 15 minute time window permits. Oops, time's…

Ask as many questions as your 15 minute time window permits.

Yeah. When I was having my big health crisis and having about two medical appointments per week, I came to hate the 15 minute appointment vastly more than anything else about modern medicine.

Re: Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

#118

Post by therein » Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 10:46 PM UTC

ridgeguy wrote: post #102

amelius wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a nice explanation. But what I don't get is: if the chemical is highly inert that means it doesn't react easily with other substances, so how then can it be carcinogenic?

Even if not reactive in the sense of forming chemical bonds with cellular material, interactions through mechanisms like Van der Walls forces could change 3D shapes of enzymes, altering their reactivity. If those enzymes participate in cellular replication, the effect could be carcinogenic. Poor car analogy: tossing a ball bearing into the open oil fill cap in your car will probably not cause the ball bearing to bond…

I think that's a perfectly accurate analogy.

Another analogy could be to introduce tens of thousands of pink balloons into a basketball game. The players are able to see each other and they know what to do the ball but the balloons get in the way and sometimes make the ball bounce in unexpected ways.