On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new lifetime health advisories, or LHAs, that suggest levels of four “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in drinking water should be significantly lower to protect public health.
An EWG analysis found that people living in more than 2,000 communities are drinking water with levels of PFAS above the newly proposed LHAs.
“No one should have to worry about the safety of their drinking water,” said Melanie Benesh, EWG’s legislative attorney. “These proposed advisory levels demonstrate that we must move much faster to dramatically reduce exposures to these toxic chemicals.”
This week, EWG released a four-part investigative series, “Power and Profit: How PG&E Fails California Ratepayers and What To Do About It,” that delves into Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E. The monopoly California utility has a long and sordid history of wasteful spending, fleecing ratepayers, hindering clean energy equity and rampant negligence that has destroyed homes and lives, and EWG’s report outlines plans for desperately needed reform of PG&E.
“PG&E is crushing Californians in their wallets, it’s killing Californians in devastating wildfires that are the direct result of its misguided energy planning, and it’s harming the planet by adding to the climate crisis with a rigid addiction to fossil fuels,” said EWG president, co-founder and longtime California resident Ken Cook.
Throughout the week, EWG took a deep dive into PFAS on military sites. First, EWG highlighted the lack of PFAS cleanup progress at the Filthy 50 – the Department of Defense sites Congress has identified as highly contaminated. We followed that by taking a look at PFAS contamination at the Navy’s famous TOPGUN training school.
Finally, peak toxic algae season is right around the corner – so EWG laid out some tips to keep in mind when visiting any beaches, lakes or other bodies of water.
Here’s some news you can use going into the weekend.
New EPA PFAS health advisory levels
Associated Press: EPA: 'Forever chemicals' pose risk even at very low levels
Environmental and public health groups hailed the action as a good first step. Advocates have long urged action on PFAS after thousands of communities detected PFAS chemicals in their water. PFAS chemicals have been confirmed at nearly 400 military installations, according to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization.
The Environmental Working Group, a national environmental nonprofit, has tracked the presence of PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS chemicals in drinking water. Because the chemicals are not yet officially regulated, water systems are not required to test for them.
The Washington Post: EPA warns toxic ‘forever chemicals’ more dangerous than once thought
“Today’s announcement should set off alarm bells for consumers and regulators,” said Melanie Benesh, legislative attorney at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization. “These proposed advisory levels demonstrate that we must move much faster to dramatically reduce exposures to these toxic chemicals.”
Drinking water advisories issued in 2016 set the upper limit for the chemicals at 70,000 parts per quadrillion. Even then, PFAS were not federally regulated, and tap water testing in multiple US cities found total PFAS levels (including PFOA, PFOS, and similar compounds) exceeded the recommended limit, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Baby formula shortage
The Washington Post: New documents show more claims of baby formula illness and death
“The crisis that has crippled the ability of parents across the country to find the formula they need to feed their babies could have been avoided if the FDA had the necessary resources and leadership structure to make food safety a priority,” said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.
Skin Deep® cosmetics database
Popular Science: PFAS are toxic and they’re everywhere. Here’s how to stay away from them.
If the full list of ingredients is not listed on your cosmetics or the packaging is too small to read the tiny words, you can get some help from the internet. The Environmental Working Group, an NGO based in Washington DC, put together Skin Deep, an easily searchable online database of brands and products containing PFAS.
California plastics ban
“In our opinion, an effective ... law defines recycling in a way that is limited to mechanical recycling, prioritizing product-to-product or closed-loop recycling as these systems reduce reliance on virgin materials,” Enck and colleagues from 20 other environmental groups, including Californians Against Waste and the Environmental Working Group, wrote in a June 15 letter to Allen.
Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act
The Hill: Senate poised to pass bill helping soldiers exposed to toxic substances
Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, said that while he’s pleased to see Congress taking action to help past victims of toxic exposures, both Congress and the military need to do more to prevent them from happening and clean them up.
Tap Water Database
The Sacramento Bee: Here’s why your Sacramento tap water might taste and smell funky this summer
The water quality meets federal and state drinking water requirements. But contaminants have been found in the city of Sacramento main service line, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database.