The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new plan to lower the cap on the amount of harmful "forever chemicals" allowed in drinking water across the country.
The chemicals, introduced to consumers in the 1940s, were used in nonstick pans, firefighting foam, food packaging and a number of other everyday products. Known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), the chemicals have been linked to a number of serious health risks including for various cancers, reproductive issues, and low birth weight.
A bombshell class action suit filed in 2001 against chemical manufacturing company DuPont revealed that the company knew PFAS were hazardous and worked to conceal the fact from its own workers, local communities, and environmental officials.
"The science is clear that long-term exposure to PFAS is linked to significant health risks," Radhika Fox, assistant EPA administrator for water, told the Associated Press.
PFAS used to create teflon and non-stick appliances have since been taken off the market, but after decades of use and production, companies have utilized new PFAS that are no safer, according to the advocacy organization Environmental Working Group. The org states that people continue to be exposed to the harmful chemicals through avenues other than water consumption, including from stain-resistant furniture and carpets, packaging for baked goods and clothes that are labeled stain or water-repellent.
New research shows that air pollution is deadlier than smoking cigarettes.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 and the latest on Hurricane Idalia.
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Florida and Georgia residents living along Hurricane Idalia’s path of destruction are picking through piles of rubble where homes once stood, throwing tarps over roofs and gingerly navigating through mazes of streets left underwater or clogged with fallen trees.
A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain.
Here is the national weather forecast for Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
A medical rescue helicopter caught fire and broke apart shortly after takeoff Monday before crashing into an apartment complex near Fort Lauderdale, killing a paramedic captain on board and a resident on the ground, authorities said.
Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.
Retired Marine Tony Hernandez spoke with Cheddar News about the proper way to do those push-ups and how an incorrect form could lead to injuries.
