High Levels of 'Forever Chemicals' Detected In Northern Virginia Drinking Water
Last edited Thu Mar 11, 2021, 06:52 AM - Edit history (3)
- A view of the Occoquan Reservoir, one of the sources of drinking water in Fairfax County.
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'High Levels Of 'Forever Chemicals' Detected In Northern Virginia Drinking Water,' NPR, Mar 10, 2021.
They're known as "forever chemicals," because they linger in the environment and our bodies ... forever. And new testing by the Environmental Working Group found the cancer-causing chemicals to be present in drinking water in Northern Virginia at higher levels than elsewhere in the D.C. region — and among the highest in the United States.
The chemicals, known as PFAS (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), have been used in all sorts of products — from carpet to firefighting foam — since the 1940s. In many uses, the chemicals help make materials water repellent or stain repellent. But PFAS chemicals can cause myriad health problems in humans, including increased cholesterol levels, thyroid problems, cancer, and low infant birth weights, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The D.C.-based Environmental Working Group tested tap water at 19 locations in Northern Virginia, including Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County. The samples come directly from taps across the Northern Virginia area," says Sidney Evans, a science analyst with the group who worked on the testing project. Samples were taken at public parks, gas stations, private residences and elsewhere. The results showed the chemicals were present at levels ranging from 5.5 parts per trillion, or ppt, at one site in Fairfax County to 62.4 parts per trillion at a site in Prince William County.
The levels found in some Northern Virginia locations are significantly higher than what the Environmental Working Group found in a round of national testing released a year ago. In that report, PFAS were found in D.C. at 21.7 ppt and in Prince Georges County, Maryland. at 17.8 ppt.. The EPA does not actually regulate PFAS chemicals, so there is no upper legal limit. However the EPA does have a non-enforceable health-advisory recommending PFAS levels below 70 ppt. The PFAS levels found in Northern Virginia are within the range that the EPA considers safe.
But the EPA's level is far too high, according to environmental activists...
More, https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/03/10/975620689/high-levels-of-forever-chemicals-detected-in-northern-virginia-drinking-water
- 'Dark Waters' Review, Variety, 2019,
https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/dark-waters-review-mark-ruffalo-todd-haynes-1203402923/
Dark Waters - The Story of Teflon: Robert (Mark Ruffalo) reveals the secret history of teflon. Based on the true story. A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. While trying to expose the truth, he soon finds himself risking his future, his family and his own life.. there aren’t too many other words for what “Dark Waters” is about: the fact that starting in the early 1950s, Dupont, the most powerful American chemical company, used toxic materials in a number of its products, knowing full well — because of the company’s own research — the disastrous effects those materials might have on anyone who came into contact with them...
= new reply since forum marked as read
Dupont makes Teflon, and Teflon is a long chained "forever" molecule that has been found in over 99% of living creatures on this planet. It was originally manufactured for the Pentagon to be used on tanks and other military equipment to make them waterproof. Dupont figured it would make a great product for household goods, like pots and pans, adding it to rugs, clothing etc. even though they knew it was carcinogenic, and had caused innumerable cases of cancer in it's employees.
They made a movie about it in 2019 called, "Dark Waters", and I suggest everyone see it if at all possible. Its certainly eye-opening, and will enrage the hell out of you. Dupont is responsible for this, and other PFAs, that they've created and polluted the earth with FOREVER. 
Dupont was directly responsible for writing the EPA's "safe" allowable limits, even though they KNOW it's wildly over the actual safe allowable limit. Must be nice to write your own EPA guidelines. 
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / Eastern Shore of Virginia and the state of Delaware) with its mouth of the Bay at the south end located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles.
With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) and all of Washington, D.C...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay
- Chesapeake Bay Watershed - extends north/east/west into 6 adjoining American states - Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York state, plus the federal capital city of Washington in the District of Columbia.
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- Mapping the PFAS Contamination Crisis: New Data Show 2,337 Sites in 49 States, Environ. Working Group
WHY IS THIS MAP IMPORTANT?
The extent of American communities’ confirmed contamination with the highly toxic fluorinated compounds known as PFAS continues to grow at an alarming rate. As of January 2021, 2,337 locations in 49 states are known to have PFAS contamination.
The latest update of this interactive map documents PFAS pollution in public and private water systems. (Details about our sources and methodology are here.) Information about sites newly added to the map comes from various PFAS detections reported to government agencies in Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and other states.
More, https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/?_ga=2.75314258.1798353782.1615461214-414467932.1615461214
- Is Northern Virginia a D.C.-Area Hot Spot for ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Tap Water? By Sydney Evans, Science Analyst, and Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., Vice President, Science Investigations, March 10, 2021.
Tap water samples from throughout Northern Virginia were contaminated with the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS at levels significantly higher than those previously reported for other parts of the Washington, D.C., metro area, according to tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group...More, https://www.ewg.org/research/nova-pfas-testing/
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- DuPont, Chemours and Corteva Reach $4 Billion Settlement on ‘Forever Chemicals’ Lawsuits, Jan. 22, 2021.
WASHINGTON – Today DuPont, Chemours and Corteva announced a cost-sharing agreement worth $4 Million to settle lawsuits involving the historic use of the highly toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. DuPont was for decades a leading U.S. manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, which it used to make Teflon and other nonstick products. Chemours was created in 2015 when DuPont spun off its chemical division, in part to limit liability relating to PFAS chemicals. Corteva, formerly the agricultural division of DowDuPont, was spun off in 2019.
Chemours sued DuPont in 2019, claiming that DuPont’s liability estimates were “spectacularly wrong.” The case was dismissed in 2020 over procedural issues.
The Environmental Working Group has documented the decades-long deception of chemical companies like DuPont burying the truth that PFAS build up in our blood and present risks to human health. EWG created a timeline that shows by the 1960s, animal studies conducted by DuPont revealed that PFAS chemicals could pose health risks. “For decades, these corporations have knowingly contaminated our drinking water, food supplies and the blood of virtually every person on the planet with these highly toxic chemicals,” said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs. “It’s long past time that the polluters pay for their malicious drive toward profits over public health.”
The binding memorandum of understanding establishes an immediate cost-sharing arrangement, including an escrow account worth upward of $1 billion to cover potential future legacy PFAS liabilities from before the spinoff.. Separately, DuPont, Corteva and Chemours have agreed to settle ongoing matters in the multidistrict PFOA litigation in Ohio for $83 million.. “We are pleased to be able to resolve these personal injury claims for our clients … in a way that provides compensation without the need for additional lengthy and expensive trials,” said Robert Bilott, an attorney with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP who is co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the Ohio litigation.
PFOA and other PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment and are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harms, and reduced effectiveness of vaccines. PFAS discharged over the past 50 years by companies like DuPont will stay in the environment until actively remediated. PFAS contaminate over 2,300 sites in the U.S.. The feature film “Dark Waters” documents the real-life story of Bilott’s 20-year fight against DuPont’s contamination of the drinking water around Parkersburg, W.Va., with a PFAS chemical used to make Teflon. Bilott also published “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against Dupont,” a riveting first-person account of how he revealed DuPont’s dumping of PFOA and the decades-long coverup of the health hazards of PFAS..
More, https://www.ewg.org/release/dupont-chemours-and-corteva-reach-4-billion-settlement-forever-chemicals-lawsuits
https://www.ewg.org/
Theres always some who will disagree about anything, regardless of scientific and mathematical data. We call them "republicans". There are some who will swear until their dying breath that the earth is flat. 
Hopefully they'll fade into extinction, and relatively soon. 
