We are in WV., between Heaven and Hell. Not sure that sometimes we know the difference?
- Lawrence Wilson
Here is an article I found as I wandered through the information that was available. It is a bit older than what Brenda put out and from a source she also was using, but more on an issue like this is always better than less.
Energy and Environment. Health
Brittany Patterson June 20, 2018 (Posted here 28 November 2018)
Previously Blocked Federal Study Raises Alarm About Chemicals Like C8 Blocked Federal Study Raises Alarm About
"The Trump administration today released a politically charged study on the health impacts of perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, including the compound known as C8, which has been detected in some water systems in the Ohio Valley.
The draft report, released by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), finds these fluorinated chemicals, which are used in some nonstick products and flame retardants, can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the Environmental Protection Agency had previously said were safe.
Pressure on the Trump administration has been mounting for weeks to publicly disseminate the study. A growing number of lawmakers and advocacy groups have pressed the White House for action following news reports that the EPA had blocked its release.
Both West Virginia Senators, Joe Manchin (D) and Shelley Moore Capito (R), praised the release of ATSDR’s report.
“After repeatedly pushing the administration to make these findings public, I’m very glad to see it release this study today,” Capito said in a news release. “The information contained in the report will help determine potential threats our communities face as a result of certain water contamination issues.”
New Findings
The report, or toxicological profile, draws upon the best available research. At 852 pages, it is aimed at giving public health officials a comprehensive picture of how fluorinated chemicals may affect human health as well as highlight the different ways people may be exposed to them.
The study finds people are exposed to fluorinated chemicals in a variety of ways including through contaminated soil and water, food packaging laced with the chemicals and some more directly by living near plants that manufactured C8.
It finds exposure to high levels of some fluorinated chemicals may affect fertility, increase cholesterol levels and increase the risk of thyroid disease.
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Olga Naidenko, senior science advisor with the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, said the analysis especially highlights how these chemicals are toxic to developing fetuses, pregnant women and young children.
“ATSDR’s profile really highlighted how very low, low doses can be harmful to developing fetuses, but also, for example, to the immune systems of young kids,” she said. “That’s something that EPA’s profile didn’t do.” (This right here is just another example where if not the Mother doing drugs of one kind or another, we have the Government itself at whatever level and responsible for the safety and well being of those Children as fetuses or little knee climbers failing in its obligations?)
In 2016, the EPA issued a health advisory for some PFAS chemicals, including PFOA, or C8, and the related compound PFOS, often linked to flame retardant foam sprays.
The EPA says water contaminated with more than 70 parts-per-trillion is unsafe to drink. Naidenko said since the EPA conducted its own study of these chemicals, much more research has been published, and that research was included in this new report. “It certainly represents a science and policy advance on this important issue,” she said.
Regional Concerns
Understanding how exposure to C8 and other fluorinated chemicals affects human health hits close to home in the Ohio Valley. Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with C8 contamination for decades.
DuPont’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, dumped over 7,000 tons of C8 sludge in a nearby landfill where it leached out. The chemical polluted streams and exposure killed nearby livestock in the late 1990s. A lawsuit against DuPont on behalf of residents resulted in a settlement and established health studies which have expanded the knowledge of health risks.
In 2016, PFOA and PFOS contaminated firefighting foam used by the National Guard contaminated the city’s drinking water plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The city paid $4.5 million to install water treatment filters, and recently sued the National Guard for damages to recoup those costs.
The new report also recommends Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for some PFAS chemicals. MRLs are an estimate of the amount of a chemical a person can eat, drink or breathe each day without it posing a health risk. Public health officials at both a federal and state level use these health-based values to determine if a community is at risk from chemical exposure.
ATSDR only suggested levels for oral ingestion of some PFAS chemicals. For PFOA and PFOS, the risk levels listed were far lower than what the EPA considers safe. The agency will take comments on the toxicological profile for 30 days".
There is a lot more that has not been disclosed to us as of this posting date. The Politics of the issue may well continue to keep a lid on what we deserve to know and to deter the necessary testing for at least Vienna/ Boaz? We already know that some of our City Administration is too this date quite close to the DuPont/ Chemour hierarchy and has been for many years. As some of you may remember, when the dangers came out in 2015/2016 (don't remember the exact meeting, but could go back and find it), at a City Council Meeting, some of the Council Members than openly stated that Mr. Brooks did not know what he was talking about. That is NOT the open minds that a City Body should have when the wellbeing of its City is at risk.
Mr. Leach and Mr. Deitzler are both hungry to be in the State Legislature and may be willing to join to go against Mr Rapp? When I last spoke with Mr. Deitzler some time back, he stated it would have to be a new Testing Process and expensive. I noted the just settled case from Ohio and some WV locations and he said that would be a good start on the data needed. But as I note again below, our issues are from the AIR/ RAIN, not the pollution of the Water by discharges from the Plant.
Well, I would suggest it is really the obligation of the City to pursue the testing even if out of its funds. There would be some limits on who could be tested. For example none who did not live here on or before May 2016 when the standards were lowered would be eligible as they were not part of the so called "exposed base" (my words). Could we depend on the above two to do this? I don't know as I don't think their generosity in a Class Action Suit as needed would extend to the Testing Process until a Judge ordered it? And it is very unlikely to be any of our Circuit Court Judges?
In spite of all the brouhaha being put out again on Wells 7&8, we need to be just as concerned or more so on the fact that OUR contamination is from the Air/ Rain and not the water in the Wells. I am going to say that when I heard about individual water purification units being installed in each home here, I will say this: I spoke to a person very involved in the mentioned home units in the Wood County and parts of Ohio area on the safety of those units and their filters. I was told than (2016), that the question came up at a National Conference this Industry puts on and the that the filters were not manufactured to detect the C8 than and I would ask if the same holds true now plus the Gen-X? We can install all the Home Units we want, but if the Filters have not been redesigned to capture these Chemicals, we are no better off. 'nuff said'.
Chemicals Like C8