Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?
In FERN's latest story, published with Mother Jones, Bridget Huber explains how Maine is defining standards for allowable levels of PFAS in soil and food, while the federal government tiptoes around a growing national crisis.
EPA ‘forever chemicals’ regs could cost communities billions, experts say
The Environmental Protection Agency is due to announce enforceable regulations on the amount of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of thousands of chemicals collectively known as PFAS, allowed in drinking water. Those rules, which could be announced as early as today, could end up costing communities around the country nearly $40 billion to implement, according to the Associated Press.
Study: freshwater fish full of forever chemicals
Just a single serving of freshwater fish per year could result in the same exposure to the “forever chemical” perfluorooctane sulfonate as drinking a month's worth of water laced with the chemical, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research. (No paywall)
Scientists say lax regulation of chemicals in food packaging endangers human health
Nine months after U.S. regulators found an industrial “forever chemical” in chocolate cake at levels some 250 times higher than federal recommendations, nearly three dozen independent scientists from 11 countries are warning that inadequate global regulations of chemicals in food packaging pose a growing risk to human health.(No paywall)
Are there ‘forever chemicals’ in the nation’s milk supply?
When a dairy farm in New Mexico was shut down last year due to contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of chemicals that have been linked to reproductive and developmental problems as well as cancer, it revealed how little federal and state regulators know about the presence of these chemicals in our food supply, according to FERN's latest story, published with HuffPost. (No paywall)