Australian drinking water now allows a carcinogen at 140 times the US rate

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Twenty-year-old Amara Strande’s deathbed crusade pushed the US to slash the levels of cancer-linked forever chemicals considered safe in drinking water.

A forever chemical recently declared carcinogenic is allowed in Australia’s tap water at 140 times the maximum level the United States now considers safe after the Biden administration dramatically lowered its safe limits for drinking water.

The same 3M factory that poisoned Amara’s high school has also contributed to the contamination of 98 per cent of the world’s population with the forever chemicals, also known as PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substancesOn Wednesday, Brenda Mallory, the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the new drinking water limits were about sparing families from the tragedy the people of Oakdale had endured.

Under the US EPA’s new rules, water providers must ensure levels of the forever chemicals PFOS and PFOA in drinking water do not exceed 4 parts per trillion. PFOS was formerly a key ingredient in food packaging and Scotchgard fabric protector. In the early 2000s, it was found in the blood of the Australian publicThe US EPA estimates the new rules, which restrict six different types of forever chemicals, will cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year.

Known as forever chemicals because they never break down in the environment and stay for years in the human body, PFAS chemicals have an extraordinary capacity to repel stains, water and grease and are still used in dozens of ordinary household products, including makeup, contact lenses and deodorant.

“We couldn’t ask for a better standard,” Amara’s sister Nora said, appearing at the White House press call.The 2018 investigation by this masthead brought to international attention the cancer toll at Tartan High School on the doorstep of 3M’s global headquarters, where Strande has become at least the sixth student to die from cancer before their 21st birthday.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

 

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