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“Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home [1]
['Molly M. Ginty Courtney Lindwall']
Date: 2024-04
What are the health effects of PFAS?
PFAS have now been linked to a wide range of health risks in both human and animal studies—including cancer (kidney and testicular), hormone disruption, liver and thyroid problems, interference with vaccine effectiveness, reproductive harm, and abnormal fetal development.
Many of these problems, including kidney cancer and thyroid disease, turned up in the C8 studies, which monitored the health of about 69,000 people in West Virginia who were exposed to certain PFAS in their drinking water. Key adverse effects of some PFAS were known by chemical industry scientists decades ago, but were not disclosed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the public. For example, the EPA issued a multimillion-dollar fine to manufacturer DuPont because of the company’s “multiple failures to report information to EPA about substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment” from the PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA or C8). Now, scores of independent studies show PFAS can be toxic to adults and especially children, whose developing bodies are more vulnerable. Some PFAS have even been known to build up in a child before birth. Alarmingly, PFAS were detected in the breast milk, umbilical cord blood, or bloodstreams of 98 percent of participants in a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
PFAS in clothes
Whether found in a raincoat or a pair of yoga pants, PFAS are used widely in our clothing, shoes, and accessories. These chemicals also cause pollution at every stage of production. At the PFAS chemical manufacturing facilities and garment factories, they often contaminate the air, water, and soil of the surrounding environment.
Products coated in PFAS can also expose consumers directly during use. And PFAS-treated apparel that is washed and eventually dumped in landfills or incinerated leaks “forever chemicals” into the environment at the end of its life cycle too. Pollution generated far away also circles the globe, for example, through ocean waves or rain, with wide-reaching impacts.
“The functionality that PFAS provides—a more stain-resistant coat or more breathable yet water-resistant gym shorts—is not necessary and certainly not worth the health risks,” says Sujatha Bergen, a coauthor of a recent NRDC report titled Going Out of Fashion: U.S. Apparel Manufacturers Must Eliminate PFAS “Forever Chemicals” from Their Supply Chains. “We lived just fine without these chemicals before, and brands could phase them out quickly if they chose to.”
Unfortunately, there are no laws in the United States requiring manufacturers to warn consumers that an item was made with PFAS (though a new bill passed in California, AB 1817, phases out the chemicals in clothing and textiles sold in that state). Generally, you’re better off assuming that something does contain PFAS, particularly if you find keywords like “waterproof,” “stain-repellent,” or “dirt-repellant” on the tag.
In response to pressure from both consumers and groups like NRDC, a number of apparel brands are taking action. Levi Strauss & Co., Victoria's Secret, and Deckers Brands have already removed PFAS from their merchandise. Other major brands, like Ralph Lauren and Patagonia Inc., have set time-bound commitments to do the same. But they are still in the minority.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/forever-chemicals-called-pfas-show-your-food-clothes-and-home
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