The Latest on PFAS Isn't Good

Cooking Discussions Cookware
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Wait… it’s not???

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Only if you’re Joe Manchin.

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Consuming charcoal is the new healthy lifestyle… (or is it not as popular a few years ago?)

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It’s good for digestion, right? Gonna go grab a briquette for lunch.

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I find the only good briquette to be had is in Paris.

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Well, la-ti-dah.

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Why, they’re bien cuit everywhere.

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Of course it is. Pizza!

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More related news: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/23/revealed-scale-of-forever-chemical-pollution-across-uk-and-europe

I was particularly struck by the concentration of PFAS in Belgium, where 3M has a plant. And unfortunately the relatively low levels of PFAS detected within Ireland is evidently offset by their concentration in Dublin Bay, where there’s still quite a lot of fishing – particularly for things like langoustines. Evidently fish & shellfish are a primary dietary source of PFAS for many people. I had not known this, and therefore will now avoid fish caught in Dublin Bay.

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Everyone should have their PFAS blood levels checked, at least as a baseline.

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Where would one do that? Just yer reg’lar ole PCP?

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I’m not sure. God knows heath insurers won’t cover the lab fees.

See, https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazardous/docs/pfas/indbltest.pdf

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@kaleokahu and @linguafood

I don’t think it matters, honestly. What I mean by this is, I don’t think it differs meaningfully across populations. We’ve all got this contamination.

I got first interested in this in the mid-1990s. My company used fluorocarbons supplied by both du Pont and 3M to make surgical gowns that would prevent liquid strike-through (thus protecting surgical staff from infection).

At this time the EPA was pushing producers to prove worn garments would not cause uptake of PFOA compounds in the users.

So 3M set up an experiment where hair-shaved bunnies wearing garments with or without the Scotchgard treatment got tested for blood PFOA.

Both groups were positive.

The traced it to the protein used in the bunny feed. North Atlantic fish of some sort.

There’s no escaping this stuff - not for the next 1000 years, anyway.

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The cockroaches will survive us all. As will the planet. Just glad I don’t have kids.

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And on the potential bright side:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/14/epa-drinking-water-regulations-pfas/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert