Jim Quiggle – Guest Blogger
Must be an appendix attack, firefighter George “Walter” Taylor thought as he rushed to the hospital in pain. The Maryland man ended up in the cancer unit.
Walter died in 2020, just a week before he and his wife Christine planned to renew their vows after 20 years of marriage. Walter had a rare, malignant tumor linked to chemicals that built up in his body over 31 years of dueling with blazes while using firefighting foam and wearing chemically treated anti-flame gear.
More than 11,000 toxic and widely used “forever chemicals” such as the contaminants in firefighting foam are a persistent hazard to consumers and sensitive ecosystems in many areas around the U.S. That includes Maryland and, likely, Virginia.
Widely mixed into popular consumer and industrial products, the offending toxins are commonly called PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances). In hallway and elevator conversations, you pronounce these chemicals “P-fahs.”
Troubling chemical buildup
Much like our brains sending messages through neural networks, PFAS chemicals seep through a complex web of environmental pathways. Acting as biome pain signals, the stuff migrates into our land and waters, building up as unwelcome and invasive pollutants.
It’s a troubling form of chemical creep. Ultimately PFAS can lodge in our bodies, exposing us to a troubling range of potential medical maladies.
Millions of Americans are routinely exposed to these tasteless, odorless chemicals simply by going about our daily lives. Small surprise that nearly all Americans have measurable amounts of forever PFAS in their blood. Because these chemicals are nearly indestructible, we may be stuck once they’re inside us.
Maryland is a regional flashpoint. Worrisome amounts of the contaminants have built up in much of the state’s vulnerable biome, including the areas of the lush Potomac River basin.
PRKN is deeply involved in a vigorous movement to shut the spigot — regionally and nationally. A blanket ban and good environmental scrub will take years. Yet we’re working hard to make these “forever” chemicals “never” ones.
Hazard to environment, consumers
Widely used: Many PFAS, for instance, are used in chemical coatings brewed to resist grease, water and stains in everyday products we all use. Among the many: Nonstick cookware, fast-food packaging such as paper bags for French fries and popcorn … clothing … stain-resistant carpets … cosmetics.
PFAS also show up in many common industrial products such as firefighting foam and pesticides.
Degrade environment: Discarded PFAS-laden goods pile up in landfills. From there, stormwater runoff can leach the embedded chemicals into sewer systems, rivers and groundwater. Soil — including millions of acres of farmland — also receives toxic runoff. Ultimately, many crops we eat and vulnerable habitat plants also are seeing unhealthy PFAS buildup.
PFAS also can bleed into sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants, accumulating in our drinking water and varied fish species.
Many military bases around the U.S. use firefighting foam in training exercises. The foam’s PFAS contaminants then seep into nearby soil and water sources, including much of the water we drink.
Expose consumers: Science is still sussing out how PFAS can harm people. Yet at toxic levels, unwelcome PFAS buildup is linked to a host of maladies such as: suppressed immune system … kidney and liver cancer … plus thyroid diseases. Unborn babies can be exposed to PFAS in utero; the chemicals thus are linked to birth defects. Farm animals also are suspected of being poisoned.
Toxic buildup exposes Maryland
Chronic PFAS chemicals have stockpiled into many areas of Maryland’s environment at potentially harmful levels for decades — including the Potomac River basin. Elevated amounts of contaminants, especially, are seeping into groundwater, wells, rivers, creeks and other water sources through varied neural-like pathways.
Consumer exposure: More to the point, many Maryland consumers could face an unhealthy PFAS exposure. PRKN is concerned that chemicals may be soaking into their bodies at potentially harmful levels.
People are eating highly contaminated freshwater fish, for instance, in Piscataway Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. Maryland is so concerned that it has issued a fish-consumption advisory for some fish in the creek and other nearby water bodies.
Elevated amounts of PFAS also were found in 75% of the community water systems tested in Maryland, reveals a report by the Maryland Department of the Environment. Researchers are still learning how much of PFAS do our bodies absorb, and what’s the damage.
Sewer sludge: Significant PFAS buildup has seeped into wastewater from sewage treatment plants, even in rural non-industrial areas, reveals PRKN testing. Sludge then flows into the Potomac River and other environmental sources such as drinking water wells.
We’ve also found “extremely high” PFAS levels in the Upper Potomac River near wastewater plants in Hagerstown. Most likely the chemicals come from products that people dump into the sewer system, PRKN believes.
Farm fields: PRKN is investigating how widely stormwater runoff from PFAS-polluted farm fields flows into waterways, and the potential chemical buildup.
Landfills: Laden with discarded PFAS-treated products that can leach chemical toxins at dangerous levels, landfills in the region are a major source of related pollution seeping into water sources and soil.
Nearby military bases: Especially concerning, PFAS pollutants have seeped into Maryland’s biome from weapons testing, plus firefighting foam used in more than a dozen military bases around the Potomac basin, and across the state.
While military fire foam no longer contains PFAS, the potential damage is already done. Chemicals have migrated into the Potomac River and nearby drinking wells. Fish downriver from Andrews Air Force Base swim in waters containing 1.4 million times higher PFAS levels than the national EPA standard.
Taking action: Plugging the pollution
PRKN and our committed allies are working hard to turn off the tap — locally and around the nation.
Science, government and activist leaders such as PRKN and our allies have increasingly sounded the alarm in recent years. We’re warning of danger to our environment, and consumers. This mounting attention is helping spur forceful prevention and cleanup action.
Test for pollution: PRKN works at the forefront of PFAS testing science in the region. Our data reveals an unacceptably high PFAS presence in areas of the Potomac watershed in Maryland. This data has added science-based credibility to our warnings and calls for action.
PRKN also is investigating stormwater from farm fields. And we’re working closely with USGS biologists to analyze fish samples for PFAS buildup.
Enact Maryland cleanup law: PRKN worked hand-in-hand with a coalition to help enact the George “Walter” Taylor Act in Maryland. This landmark bipartisan legislation largely bans products containing the full family of PFAS in the state.
Join national lawsuit: Nationally, we joined a lawsuit against the EPA’s failure to regulate toxic PFAS in sewer sludge. The suit is ongoing.
Strong federal standards: Separately, the Biden Administration imposed a national drinking-water standard to reduce consumer exposure to PFAS as part of a wider federal crackdown.
Protect your health
So how can concerned consumers like you limit your exposure to PFAS pollution?
- Avoid non-stick cookware;
- Ditch greasy fast foods, which have PFAS-embedded packaging;
- Use glass and metal water containers;
- Ask your local water utility how safe PFAS levels are in your drinking water;
- Avoid eating fish from waterways affected by PFAS. Check EPA’s list of fish advisory contacts to see which waterways have problems.
Purging PFAS is difficult, slow and expensive. As forever chemicals, they’re stubborn and resilient, built up in large swaths of our vulnerable biome. This persistent residue continues to threaten everything from our soil to our waters and, ultimately, us.
Cleanup science is also relatively young. We’re still learning just how widely PFAS have taken hold in our environment and bodies, and the damage.
Yet we’ve made more progress in the last five years than the previous five decades combined. As a society, we’re rapidly waking up to the potential threat. Chemical bans are being imposed, groundbreaking lawsuits are in motion, research is kicking into higher gear, and governments are beginning to act with growing urgency.
Still, so much more needs to be done. We must ban PFAS from the source products that contain these chemicals; Maryland’s recent embargo is a good example. We also must step up efforts to cleanse existing PFAS buildup and block future exposure.
Years of committed action still lie ahead. Yet with such promising momentum well-underway, surely the day will dawn when today’s forever PFAS are known as never.
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