USGS finds forever chemical PFAS in 45% of US tap water
At least 45% of the nation’s tap water could have one or more types of the chemicals known as #PFAS, according to a new USGS study. This study is the first to analyze PFAS in tap water from both private and public supplies broadly throughout the US. #water https://t.co/S2WteG9R26 pic.twitter.com/zz85IqZwni
— USGS (@USGS) July 5, 2023
Noticed that the New York Times as well as Natural News posted about a study from the United States Geological Survey related to contaminated tap water.
Here is information from a USGS news release about that:
At least 45% of the nation’s tap water is estimated to have one or more types of the chemicals known as per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, not all of which can be detected with current tests; the USGS study tested for the presence of 32 types.
This USGS research marks the first time anyone has tested for and compared PFAS in tap water from both private and government-regulated public water supplies on a broad scale throughout the country. Those data were used to model and estimate PFAS contamination nationwide. This USGS study can help members of the public to understand their risk of exposure and inform policy and management decisions regarding testing and treatment options for drinking water.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used in a wide variety of common applications, from the linings of fast-food boxes and non-stick cookware to fire-fighting foams and other purposes. High concentrations of some PFAS may lead to adverse health risks in people, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Research is still ongoing to better understand the potential health effects of PFAS exposure over long periods of time. Because they break down very slowly, PFAS are commonly called “forever chemicals.” Their persistence in the environment and prevalence across the country make them a unique water-quality concern.
“USGS scientists tested water collected directly from people’s kitchen sinks across the nation, providing the most comprehensive study to date on PFAS in tap water from both private wells and public supplies,” said USGS research hydrologist Kelly Smalling, the study’s lead author. “The study estimates that at least one type of PFAS – of those that were monitored – could be present in nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. Furthermore, PFAS concentrations were similar between public supplies and private wells.” 07/05/23 https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/tap-water-study-detects-pfas-forever-chemicals-across-us
Related to that, Natural News posted:
July 26, 2023
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used in a wide variety of common applications, from the linings of fast-food boxes and non-stick cookware to fire-fighting foams and other purposes.
High concentrations of some PFAS may lead to adverse health risks in people, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates public water supplies. Homeowners are responsible for the maintenance, testing and treatment of private water supplies.
Research is still ongoing to better understand the potential health effects of PFAS exposure over long periods of time. Because they break down very slowly, PFAS are commonly called ‘forever chemicals.’ Their persistence in the environment and prevalence across the country make them a unique water-quality concern.
USGS scientists tested water collected directly from people’s kitchen sinks across the nation – providing the most comprehensive study to date on PFAS in tap water from both private wells and public supplies, said USGS research hydrologist Kelly Smalling, the study’s lead author. …
3M, a major manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, announced a $10.3 billion settlement with public water suppliers nationwide after the company was accused of contaminating drinking water, United Press International reported.
In June of that year the EPA warned that these PFAS “forever chemicals” cause negative human health effects at much lower levels than previously thought.
The USGS study took samples from private wells in addition to samples from public water sources. https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-07-26-usgs-45percent-tap-water-us-contaminated-pfas.html
I posted the following from CBS here last year:
PFAS: The water contaminant that scientists say isn’t going away
August 21, 2022
Stoneridge Dairy Farm, in Arundel, Maine, Fred Stone was worried … since November of 2016, every drop of milk – that white gold that’s been a reliable livelihood for generations – is now being poured right down the drain. … said Stone. “Even I can’t drink it.”
He had no idea the wastewater that the state licensed him to use to fertilize his fields was also swimming with potentially toxic chemicals, called PFAS. Now, his land, his cows (and, yes, their milk) are all contaminated.
Cowan asked, “Had you ever heard of PFAS or any of these chemicals?”
“Never,” he replied.
A lot of people haven’t. PFAS is an acronym for a family of man-made compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The CDC has listed a host of health effects believed to be associated with exposure to those chemicals, including cancer, liver damage, increased cholesterol, and a lot more. The chemicals are so highly mobile, they’re not only being found in soil and ground water, but in the atmosphere, too. In fact, they’ve even been detected in raindrops falling in some of the most remote areas of the world.
PFAS chemicals have been around for decades. DuPont was the first to use PFAS in Teflon, giving us those non-stick pots and pans. 3M used a different PFAS in its once-popular fabric protector, Scotchgard. …
“They are nearly indestructible … You can’t get rid of ’em,” said Patrick Macroy, the former deputy director of the advocacy group Defend Our Heath in Maine, He explains just why that staying power is so very troubling: “A lot of chemicals, when they go into your body or they end up in the environment, they break down. They slowly decompose. PFAS don’t do that. Once you put PFAS somewhere, it’s gonna stay there practically forever.”
That means the levels of these so-called “forever chemicals” can build up and linger in our bloodstreams forever.
Cathy and Bruce Harrington were notified by Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection that their drinking water was tainted with PFAS: “They’re supposed to be under 40 parts per trillion,” said Cathy. “Ours is 26,000 per trillion.) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pfas-the-water-contaminant-that-scientists-say-isnt-going-away/
Financially-influenced scientists and other so-called experts said these materials were safe.
They were wrong. They have done this on many matters, and not just PFAS.
Money and pride blinds many. The Apostle Paul warned:
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
That said, consider also the following:
Microplastic particles, tiny chunks (by definition, less than 5 millimeters long) of fragmented plastic bottles and microfibers that fray from clothes, all pollutants that get caught up in Earth’s atmospheric systems and deposited in the wilderness.
Writing … in the journal Science, researchers report a startling discovery: After collecting rainwater and air samples for 14 months, they calculated that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles fall into 11 protected areas in the western US each year. That’s the equivalent of over 120 million plastic water bottles. “We just did that for the area of protected areas in the West, which is only 6 percent of the total US area,” says lead author Janice Brahney, an environmental scientist at Utah State University. “The number was just so large, it’s shocking.”
… Microplastics are blowing all over the world, landing in supposedly pure habitats, like the Arctic and the remote French Pyrenees. They’re flowing into the oceans via wastewater and tainting deep-sea ecosystems, and they’re even ejecting out of the water and blowing onto land in sea breezes. And now in the American West, and presumably across the rest of the world given that these are fundamental atmospheric processes, they are falling in the form of plastic rain—the new acid rain. 06/12/20 https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Abstract
Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment. Using high-resolution spatial and temporal data, we tested whether plastics deposited in wet versus dry conditions have distinct atmospheric life histories. Further, we report on the rates and sources of deposition to remote U.S. conservation areas. We show that urban centers and resuspension from soils or water are principal sources for wet-deposited plastics. By contrast, plastics deposited under dry conditions were smaller in size, and the rates of deposition were related to indices that suggest longer-range or global transport. Deposition rates averaged 132 plastics per square meter per day, which amounts to >1000 metric tons of plastic deposition to western U.S. protected lands annually. (Brhney J, et al. Plastic rain in protected areas of the United States. Science. 12 Jun 2020: Vol. 368, Issue 6496, pp. 1257-1260)
Related to pollution and plastic, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG)put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
Here is a link to that video: Will Pollution lead to the End?
Here is what could be considered as an environmental prophecy:
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18).
Thus, God is not pleased when humans abuse the environment.
There are costs to pollution. There are also costs to many human actions.
Humanity, apart from God, causes many problems.
God will have to intervene or the world will be destroyed (cf. Matthew 24:21-22).
Humanity needs to repent and turn to Jesus.
But the Bible shows that only the elect few will in this age.
Yet, because most humans will not repent, this does not mean you cannot (see also the free online book: Is God Calling You?).
Furthermore, we can all try to live better. On that last part as far as the environment goes, the Continuing Church of God put out this sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:
1:11:07
Christians and the Environment
How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? Did God make the earth good? Does the Bible give clues to prevent environmental problems? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? What will happen to the earth? How will Christians be involved? Does the Bible have warnings for those that are destroying the Earth?Dr. Thiel addresses these and other points.
Here is a link to the sermon: Christians and the Environment.
Christians are to be proper stewards of the environment (cf. Genesis 2:15).
In the 20th century, more began to be realized about modern chemicals and pollution:
We are dosing the environment with materials that poison virtually everything. Some of these poisons are extremely persistent and are absolutely everywhere!
Changing Climate
One of the main things that we are doing is changing the climate of the planet. We are accelerating climatic changes in all sorts of ways. The climate of the planet depends primarily on the heat balance, the balance between incoming and outgoing solar radiation. Adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which we have been doing at a merry rate since about 1870 ·by burning fossil fuels, tends to warm the entire planet. The average temperature rose considerably until about 1940, and then the trend reversed. We now have a cooling trend which most meteorologists blame on the amount of particulate pollution that has been added to the atmosphere. Pollution is now absolutely world-wide. There has been a 35% increase in the particulate pollution over Mauna Loa, on the Island of Hawaii. There is a veil of pollution that covers the entire planet.
(Ehrlich P. Our Environmental Crisis. Plain Truth magazine, June-July 1970)
Now, this does not mean that many have not politicized and even faked climate change data for improper goals. But the reality is that many poisons have affected the environment and are factors in the loss of species–and pollution has become an increasing problem worldwide–with sins of various types being the real cause. Humans need to live God’s way to correct this, but since they have refused for about 6,000 years (see also Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?), we have increasing pollution and other problems.
Christians should try to pollute less and waste less. We should not litter. We should pick up after ourselves. We should try to insure our plastic trash does not blow into waterways or on the land. We should try to avoid, or minimize, the use of synthetic chemicals where it is feasible. And yes, we can separate trash for recycling, as well as try to reuse items instead of throwing them away and replacing them. We should live as Christian pacifists–human wars have long been a factor in pollution and destruction and this will get worse. We should live as Jesus and strive not to sin, while we look forward to, and teach, about the coming Kingdom of God.
There are personal and prophetic ramifications to polluting the environment.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
The Bible, Christians, and the Environment How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? Is environmental pollution a factor in autism and death? Do pollutants seem to double the autism risk? What will Jesus do? Here is a link to a related sermon: Christians and the Environment (there is also a YouTube video available titled Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy, one titled Will Pollution lead to the End?, and one called COP 27 and Solving Climate Change).
Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to two related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food and Let’s Talk About Health.
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, and The Mystery of YOU.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up?
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