Toxic chemicals are flowing into the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River — and they’re showing up in drinking water

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1. Some points from this interactive article:

   >Forever chemicals, which can last for hundreds or even thousands of years in the environment, are a group of more than 15,000 human-made compounds also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
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   >The water- and grease-resistant chemicals were first used in the late 1940s to make Teflon non-stick cookware. It wasn’t until the late ’90s that concerns over health effects emerged.
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   >Today, a growing body of research has linked some PFAS to a range of potential health risks, including cancer, reduced vaccine response, reproductive issues, delays in child development, hormonal issues and increased cholesterol levels.
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   >The chemicals have leached into the environment over decades of use and they are expected to continue to increase.
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   >…
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   >CBC News reached out to major cities that draw drinking water from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to ask them what they’re doing to address PFAS.
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   >Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City said they don’t use treatments specifically designed to remove PFAS, but so far, their levels are within the recommended limits.
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   >The City of Hamilton said forever chemicals in its raw water supply are generally below detection levels, and it also uses granular activated carbon in its water treatment process, which helps to remove PFAS.
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   >…
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   >Scientists generally attribute the elevated levels in the Great Lakes to the concentration of industry and people living there.
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   >Dove has sampled the Great Lakes for PFAS and said the highest concentrations they’ve tracked were in Lake Ontario, likely because it’s the most urbanized and industrialized and is the farthest downstream.
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   >She and colleague Daryl McGoldrick fear what could happen if forever chemicals continue to pollute the watershed, risking a repeat of what happened with toxic PCBs.
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   >PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were widely used in coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment.
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   >Even though they were banned across North America by the late ’70s due to potential health risks, the chemicals are still found in the environment 40 years later.
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   >McGoldrick, the head of Great Lakes water quality monitoring and surveillance for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said PCBs are still responsible for the majority of fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes.
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   >…
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   >One hopeful sign: regulations seem to be working.
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   >Sauvé said concentrations of certain types of forever chemicals in the St. Lawrence River seem to be very slowly decreasing or staying stable.
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   >On the other hand, he said, “the types of PFAS are changing and we have not done a proper survey of ultrashort-chain PFAS.”
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   >It’s why scientists have dubbed it the whack-a-mole problem.
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   >When specific forever chemicals have been mostly banned or phased out in North America, namely long-chain PFOA and PFOS, industry has responded by replacing them with new, less studied ones called short-chain.

   It’s pretty clear especially with the whack-a-mole problem that is present here with PFAs and the like is that regulation has thus far been designed to be permissive with only specific pollutants targeted and therefore has required policymakers to play catch-up to industry. Perhaps a better way to do this is to flip this by prohibiting the release of any pollutant until industry can prove first that it is safe to do so by default.

2. I’m not surprised at this point, we’ve completely fucked up the entire planet. Hell even space is full of our trash. Earth just needs to kick us off and do a reset, we aren’t worthy of caring for her.

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