Day 21: ME IV
Today was a little rainy for most of the day and we were sick from the flu and COVID vaccines and stayed in most of the day. We are having moments of feeling like normal people this evening so maybe with another night of sleep.
Soup & Sermon
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Forever and ubiquitous and toxic to humans, animals, and all of life.
PFAs cause delayed puberty, leading to a higher incidence of breast cancer, renal disease, and thyroid disease. They affect bone density in adolescents, increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, and cause consistent liver damage.
Avoid them. Work to shut down the companies that are producing them even though they know they are toxic to all living beings and systems. Boycott DuPont and 3M?!!?
Create ethics training for business leaders and chemists! The scale of this is insidious.
A big 3M expose by ProPublica (article below) in May of 2024 showed how 3M knowingly poisoned people and the environment knowing of their harms since the 1950s. They make the point that PFAs aren’t in everything they make, only 16,000 products are available globally! They say they will phase it out by the end of 2025 but what good is that? I want them to clean up the global mess they made since 1950!
PFAs are found in Nonstick pans like Teflon, clothing, stain or water-resistant fabrics, furniture, carpet, outdoor wear, pizza boxes, food wrappers, microwave popcorn, dental floss, mascara, foundation, firefighting foam, paints, cleaning products, artificial turf…the list goes on.
Find out if companies are producing PFCs or PFAs near or above your water source, it is a common waste that is washed downstream. Asking your utility what they are finding, and what they are filtering for in your water. At home use a filter that removes them like granular activated carbon filters.
Farms were encouraged across the US to use sewage sludge as fertilizer and it is one of the main spreaders of Forever Chemicals back into the food chain to poison the next generation
In California PFAs and PFOs are found in the most widely used insecticides. As if insecticides weren’t bad enough! Here is more information about this.
More Info:
Highly recommended: ProPublica Expose of 3M
Basic plus early research on what helps
Best water filters for PFA removal
Guardian: Suspected cover up just how large the ex-Navy base PFA spill is
New York Times article on small farms affected by PFAs
Study on liver damage linked to PFAs
TIME: PFAs in your home, yes they are everywhere
Farmers market means a pretty good bird day, including a Bald Eagle we saw on the way, a pair of Common Yellowthroats by the pond, and the first of the White-throated Sparrows of the trip! 14 species:
1 Canada Goose
1 Mallard
1 Rock Pigeon
1 Ring-billed Gull
1 Osprey
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Bald Eagle
1 Blue Jay
1 American Crow
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 House Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 California Towhee
2 Common Yellowthroat