1/1/2025
WT Staff
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January 6, 2025 905 am EST
50 years of the SDWA, is our drinking water safe?
Part 2: Convenience: the chemical cocktail that keeps on giving
Of lab-designed chemicals making our consumer goods great, this week we confront the neuro-toxic and life-regressing compounds associated with all things plastic. Last week, we looked at "forever chemicals", the class of horrors properly termed per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances - PFAS. These stain-defying, water-repellant wonders have enhanced our furniture, our clothing and food packaging, all perfectly imperishable, they have hijacked the hydrologic circuitry of Earth. The source of contamination of our water supply is the artificial turf, the pizza delivery boxes, the smudge-proof makeup and all-day fragrance, shedding harmful substances, thousands in the PFAS class cataloged to date. Of the thousands of known PFAS, just 140 made the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory for special containment measures. A half dozen of these are to be regulated in drinking water, beginning in 2029.
Read the full article Part 1: "Forever Chemicals", PFAS here.
USA: "Check, please!"
Chemicals Used in Plastic Materials: An Estimate of the Attributable Disease Burden and Costs in the United States (2018): $249 billion.
The Journal of the Endocrine Society dropped off the tab a year ago, January 2024, publishing a report by Dr. Leo Trasonde et all, a calculation of the cost of US citizens' exposure to a set of common plastics toxins for the year 2018. Dr. Trasonde and his team concluded, "Plastics contribute substantially to disease and associated social costs in the United States, accounting for 1.22% of the gross domestic product. The costs of plastic pollution will continue to accumulate as long as exposures continue at current levels." As US society looks for the door, Trasonde points to the Global Plastics Treaty and new policy initiatives to reduce exposure going forward.
A Global Analysis
Dr. Maureen Cropper is an Environmental Economist at the University of Maryland. Building on the Trasonde paper, Cropper et al have extended the work to assess the cost of chemical exposures beyond the continental US. The resulting sustainability research article was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) last month, December 2024.
Cropper focused on two common plastics compounds in consumer goods, biphenol-A (BPA) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), correlating human exposure to population health statistics in 38 countries. Analysis of bio-monitoring data collected by the subject countries covers a third of the world population. Cropper found these toxics associated with 600,000 human lives lost in a single year, 2015. Beyond the lives lost, exposure to these chemicals has also hit the next generation right in the brain trust. The study estimates millions of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) points stolen from the newborns of the subject period.
Now what?
Lawsuits will unfold, fines will be levied on manufacturers and regulators that knew of the dangers. Change is slow, the stains of our demand for convenience will not be easily removed. In the short term, there are ways to minimize exposure to chemicals in your household. For those looking to throttle down the flow of toxics in the home, beware of plastics hidden in what may appear to be alternative packaging. Aluminum cans are lined with plastic. Even the 100% cotton t-shirt can be coated with a stain-resistant treatment not disclosed on the label. Paper and cardboard food packaging is lined and treated with grease-proof coating.
To purge the chemicals may take a complete renovation of lifestyle and embracing a return to personal engagement with our daily routines. In our kitchens, back to simple ingredients, prepared with safe cookware, served with real crockery and cutlery. In the gym, glass or steel water bottles, and in the dressing room, fashion with minimally processed natural fibers and dyes. Can it be done? One small step at a time. A recent article from the Guardian suggests we don't all rush out and purge plastics at once. After all, landfills leach harmful substances into the watershed. Check back in Part 3 as we consider possibilities for households downsizing exposure to toxic chemicals within.
For more information on the toxics in common goods, see the Plastic List, here.
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