Why 'Forever Chemicals' Are Still Spreading

Summary

The video script delves into the alarming presence of PFAS, dubbed 'forever chemicals', in the environment and human bodies, linked to numerous health issues including cancers. It highlights the case of Massachusetts' Hockomock swamp and the state's use of Anvil 10 + 10 pesticide, which was found to contain high levels of PFOA. The script follows Kyla Bennett's journey as a whistleblower and her discovery of PFAS contamination, implicating companies like Inhance Technologies. It raises questions about the EPA's ability to regulate and hold companies accountable for environmental and public health threats.

Takeaways

• 🌿 The Hockomock swamp and vernal pools are central to the study of PFAS contamination, which is linked to Eastern Equine Encephalitis in Massachusetts.
• 🔍 PFAS (Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) are toxic, persistent chemicals found in the environment and in the blood of every human alive, posing an urgent public health threat.
• 💧 PFAS contamination is widespread and inescapable, as it is present in water, soil, and even rain, leading to potential health risks over time.
• 🧪 PFAS chemicals are used in various products for their water, oil, and grease resistance, such as Teflon pans and firefighting foam, due to their carbon-fluorine bond.
• 🛡️ PFAS are sometimes referred to as 'forever chemicals' due to their extreme persistence and difficulty to degrade, which can take hundreds to thousands of years.
• 👩‍🔬 Kyla Bennett, a science policy advisor and former EPA employee, became a whistleblower after discovering PFAS contamination in her town's water supply.
• 🚫 The EPA has identified a connection between PFAS contamination and the use of the pesticide Anvil 10 + 10, which was stored in fluorinated containers.
• 🚨 The EPA has issued a Notice of Violation to Inhance Technologies for producing long-chain PFAS through fluorination, which is illegal, but the company continues the practice.
• 🛑 Inhance Technologies argues against the EPA's authority and downplays the significance of the PFAS generated through their processes, leading to a lawsuit from the Department of Justice.
• 🔄 The transition away from fluorinated plastics is happening, as companies like BP Polymers offer alternatives like Kortrax, which does not require post-mold fluorination.
• 🤔 The case of PFAS contamination raises questions about the EPA's ability and willingness to hold polluters accountable and to effectively regulate chemicals that pose significant health risks.

Q & A

What is a vernal pool and why are they significant in the context of the script?

A vernal pool is a seasonal wetland that holds water only during certain times of the year. In the script, they are significant because they are part of the Hockomock swamp, which is the starting point of the story about PFAS contamination and its impact on the environment and public health.

What is Eastern Equine Encephalitis and why is it mentioned in the script?

Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a rare but potentially fatal disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is mentioned because the Hockomock area is a high-risk zone for this disease, which leads to the state of Massachusetts conducting aerial spraying for mosquitoes, and potentially exacerbating PFAS contamination.

What are PFAS and why are they considered a public health threat?

PFAS, or Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, are a large class of chemicals known for their persistence, toxicity, and widespread presence in the environment and human bodies. They are considered a public health threat due to their link to various health issues, including cancers, infertility, and birth defects.

How are PFAS chemicals described in the script and what makes them so persistent?

PFAS chemicals are described as 'forever chemicals' due to their structure of a carbon atom connected to a fluorine atom, which makes them highly persistent and resistant to degradation, often taking years or even thousands of years to break down.

What is the connection between PFAS and the pesticide Anvil 10 + 10 as discussed in the script?

The connection is that Anvil 10 + 10, a pesticide used for mosquito control, was found to contain PFAS chemicals, including PFOA, due to the fluorinated plastic containers in which it was stored. The PFAS leached from the containers into the pesticide.

Who is Kyla Bennett and what role does she play in the script?

Kyla Bennett is a science policy advisor for a nonprofit called PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) and a former EPA employee who became a whistleblower. She plays a central role in the script as she investigates the PFAS contamination, uncovering the link between the pesticide Anvil 10 + 10 and PFAS.

What was the outcome of the EPA's investigation into the PFAS contamination in Anvil 10 + 10?

The EPA's investigation found that PFAS contamination in Anvil 10 + 10 was due to the fluorinated plastic containers used by the manufacturer, Clarke. As a result, Clarke was forced to recall the product and change their packaging to non-fluorinated containers.

What is the significance of the company Inhance Technologies in the context of PFAS?

Inhance Technologies is significant because it is identified as the only company in the US responsible for the production of fluorinated plastic through a process called post-mold fluorination, which generates PFAS chemicals.

What legal actions have been taken against Inhance Technologies regarding PFAS production?

The EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Inhance Technologies in March 2022, stating that the production of long-chain PFAS through fluorination is illegal and demanding that they stop. Later, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Inhance for violating US Chemical law.

What is the current stance of Inhance Technologies on the EPA's demand to stop fluorinating plastics?

Inhance Technologies has refused to stop fluorinating plastics, instead claiming that they will attempt to change the process to limit PFAS generation. They argue that the EPA does not have the authority to regulate existing uses of these chemicals and that the amount of PFAS generated is negligible.

How does the script suggest the EPA is handling the PFAS issue and what are the implications?

The script suggests that the EPA is not adequately addressing the PFAS issue, raising questions about its ability and willingness to hold polluters accountable. It implies that the EPA may be overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and concerned about causing public panic.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Vernal Pools and PFAS Contamination

The script introduces the issue of PFAS contamination, starting with the Hockomock swamp and vernal pools in Massachusetts, which are linked to a significant health threat. PFAS, or Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, are toxic, persistent chemicals found in various products for their water, oil, and stain resistance, including Teflon pans and firefighting foam. The narrator discusses the ubiquity of PFAS in the environment and human bodies, highlighting the difficulty of avoiding exposure. The script also mentions Kyla Bennett, a science policy advisor and former EPA employee, who became a whistleblower after discovering PFAS contamination in her town's water, despite the absence of typical contamination sources.

05:01

🦟 Mosquito Spray and PFAS Connection

This paragraph delves into the unexpected connection between mosquito control efforts and PFAS contamination. The state of Massachusetts aerially sprays a pesticide called Anvil 10 + 10 to combat mosquito-borne diseases like Eastern Equine Encephalitis. The narrator hypothesizes a link between this spraying and the water contamination in her town, Easton. Testing of Anvil reveals the presence of PFAS, including the notorious PFOA, which is known for its long-chain structure and persistence in the environment and bodies. The EPA's investigation points to the plastic containers used by the pesticide manufacturer, Clarke Mosquito, as the source of PFAS contamination due to a process called fluorination.

10:03

🛢️ Fluorinated Plastics and Their Economic Impact

The script uncovers the widespread use of fluorinated plastics in the economy, which are linked to PFAS contamination. Inhance Technologies, a company responsible for fluorinating plastics, is identified as a significant contributor to the problem. Despite the EPA's notice of violation and a lawsuit from the Department of Justice, Inhance continues its operations, arguing that the EPA lacks authority and that the PFAS levels generated are negligible. The impact of this revelation is profound, affecting companies like Clarke Mosquito, which had to recall its product and switch to non-fluorinated containers, such as those made with Kortrax nylon, to avoid further contamination.

15:07

🏥 Health Concerns and the Fight Against PFAS

The final paragraph focuses on the personal struggle of the narrator, who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor potentially linked to environmental toxins. The script raises questions about the EPA's ability and willingness to regulate PFAS effectively, suggesting that the agency may be overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. The narrator expresses a lack of optimism about the future, given the pervasiveness of PFAS in everyday products, but also a determination to continue fighting for awareness and regulation of these harmful chemicals.

Keywords

💡Vernal Pools

Vernal pools are temporary bodies of water that form seasonally, often in depressions in the ground, and are significant habitats for various species, including amphibians. In the video, they are mentioned as a starting point for the discussion on environmental contamination, particularly with PFAS, and are symbolic of the broader ecological impact of such pollutants.

💡Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)

Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a rare but potentially fatal mosquito-borne virus. The script mentions it as a reason for aerial spraying in Massachusetts, which inadvertently led to further environmental contamination with PFAS, highlighting the complex interplay between public health measures and environmental protection.

💡PFAS

PFAS, or Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, are a class of man-made chemicals known for their persistence in the environment and potential health risks. The video emphasizes PFAS as an urgent public health threat, found in water, soil, and even the blood of every human alive, illustrating the pervasiveness and seriousness of PFAS contamination.

💡Aerial Spraying

Aerial spraying refers to the distribution of substances from the air, often for pest control. In the context of the video, it is mentioned as a method used by the state of Massachusetts to control mosquito populations and the transmission of diseases like EEE. However, the script suggests that this practice may have contributed to PFAS contamination.

💡Toxicity

Toxicity in the video refers to the harmful effects of PFAS on human health and the environment. It is a central theme, as the script discusses the toxic nature of PFAS, their persistence, and the associated health risks, including various cancers and birth defects.

💡Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Perfluoroalkyl Substances, a subset of PFAS, are specifically highlighted in the video for their long carbon chains connected to fluorine atoms, making them highly persistent and dangerous. The term is used to emphasize the chemical structure that contributes to the long-lasting presence of these substances in the environment and the human body.

💡Non-stick Pans

Non-stick pans, often coated with Teflon, serve as an everyday example of products containing PFAS. The script uses this example to illustrate how PFAS chemicals are ubiquitous in consumer products, contributing to their widespread presence in the environment and in our lives.

💡Kyla Bennett

Kyla Bennett is a science policy advisor and former EPA employee who became a whistleblower after discovering PFAS contamination. Her personal story and advocacy are central to the narrative of the video, showing the human impact of PFAS contamination and the challenges of addressing this environmental issue.

💡Pesticide

The video discusses the pesticide Anvil 10 + 10, which was found to contain PFAS due to the fluorinated plastic containers it was stored in. This revelation is a key turning point in the narrative, linking the use of pesticides to the broader issue of PFAS contamination.

💡Fluorinated Plastics

Fluorinated plastics are a type of plastic that has been treated with fluorine gas to enhance its properties. The video explains that these plastics are pervasive in the economy and are a significant source of PFAS contamination, as PFAS can leach from these containers into products and the environment.

💡Inhance Technologies

Inhance Technologies is a company highlighted in the video for its role in fluorinating plastics, a process that generates PFAS. Despite regulatory actions and lawsuits, the company continues this practice, raising questions about corporate responsibility and the effectiveness of environmental regulations.

💡EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a key regulatory body mentioned in the video, responsible for investigating and addressing PFAS contamination. The script discusses the EPA's actions and inactions, critiquing its ability to hold polluters accountable and protect public health.

Highlights

Vernal pools in the Hockomock area are extensively studied and are contaminated with PFAS.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a fatal disease prevalent in the Hockomock area, leading to aerial mosquito spraying.

Massachusetts state's aerial spraying for mosquitoes may have contributed to PFAS contamination.

PFAS (Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) are an urgent public health threat found in the environment and in human blood.

PFAS are referred to as 'forever chemicals' due to their persistence, linked to various health issues.

Kyla Bennett, a science policy advisor and former EPA employee, became a whistleblower after discovering PFAS contamination.

PFAS contamination was found in unexpected places like Easton, Massachusetts, without obvious sources.

Kyla Bennett's personal battle with a rare brain tumor raised suspicions about environmental toxins.

A connection was suspected between PFAS contamination and the use of the pesticide Anvil 10 + 10.

Anvil 10 + 10 was found to contain alarming levels of PFOA, a dangerous PFAS.

PFAS chemicals have been found globally in various environments and organisms.

The EPA launched an investigation into the source of PFAS in Anvil 10 + 10, implicating plastic containers.

Inhance Technologies was identified as the sole company in the US responsible for fluorinating plastic.

Fluorinated plastics are used pervasively in the economy by recognizable brands.

EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Inhance Technologies for producing long-chain PFAS.

Inhance Technologies challenged the EPA's authority and downplayed the significance of PFAS generation.

Clarke Mosquito had to recall Anvil 10 + 10 and transitioned to BP Polymers for non-fluorinated containers.

Despite legal action, Inhance continues to fluorinate plastics, raising questions about EPA enforcement.

The incident with PFAS contamination highlights the challenges and responsibilities of environmental regulation.

Transcripts

So this is one of the vernal pools

that we have studied quite extensively.

There's a lot of mosquitoes.

The Hockomock is ground zero for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a very rare

but fatal disease.

This is why the state of Massachusetts

does the aerial spraying for mosquitoes.

And if the state hadn't been spraying millions of acres

that was contaminated with PFAS,

I don't know if our contamination would be so bad.

So for me, the Hockomock swamp,

and these vernal pools are really where it all started.

This whole messy story.

PFAS are an urgent public health threat.

They're toxic, persistent,

and being found in the environment across the country.

I personally think the magnitude

of the PFAS contamination in the United States, particularly,

is probably our worst environmental disaster yet.

It is impossible to avoid PFAS because it's in our water.

It's in our soil. It's in the rain

that's coming out of the sky.

PFAS at the moment is being found in the blood

of every human alive.

The last blood bank sample

that didn't have PFAS in it came from the Korean War.

And nobody is treating this with the care that it needs

to be treated because it is such a huge, huge problem.

The threat of PFAS is one that emerges over time.

It takes a long time to manifest, and

therefore it makes it really hard to be able

to protect oneself and understand the extent of the danger.

PFAS stand for Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.

It's actually an enormous class of chemicals.

There are definitely thousands, probably even

more than 10,000, and they've been around for decades.

They're often called forever chemicals

because what they consist of is a carbon atom connected

to a fluorine atom,

and that's what makes them super, super persistent.

PFAS chemicals are used for water-resistance, oil

and grease-resistance, stain-resistance.

So your Teflon pans, your non-stick pans that you use,

those are coated with PFAS.

It makes them really good at resisting high temperatures.

Think firefighting foam.

It reduces friction, think brake fluid.

They take a long time to degrade.

They stick around in the environment, in our bodies.

It's this persistence that makes them really valuable

for lots of products.

It's also what makes them so dangerous.

Ultimately, I came across Kyla Bennett

and this discovery that she had made that led

to this cascade of fallout regarding PFAS contamination.

Don't laugh at my cashews, please. We buy bulk.

We're making vegan yogurt.

I used to buy the vegan yogurt in the store until I realized

that the plastic containers might contain PFAS.

So I decided to make my own

and I make it in a glass container.

Even my Vitamix, I got rid of the plastic one

and got a metal one.

My name is Kyla Bennett

and I am the science policy advisor

for a nonprofit called PEER, which stands

for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

I worked at EPA for 10 years,

but I actually became a whistleblower while I was at EPA.

I didn't even really know about PFAS until 2018.

I was contacted by an EPA employee

who was concerned about PFAS in the

town of Ayer, Massachusetts.

I started going down the PFAS rabbit-hole

and decided to test the water of two towns: my own town,

Easton, which I thought would be clean

because we have no firefighting training facility.

We have no industry to speak of.

I also tested the town of Sudbury

and to my shock, Easton's water

was more contaminated than Sudbury's water.

It was a mystery as

to why. Easton, Massachusetts didn't have any of the typical

markers of PFAS contamination such

as firefighting training facilities, military

bases, chemical plants.

So there was no obvious reason at the time why Easton's

water would've had PFAS contamination.

But it did.

Come on.

Chai, come on out.

Chai.

In May of 2020, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor,

a very rare type of brain tumor.

And I had two surgeries.

I was in the ICU for a week. It was very difficult.

They ran genetic tests on me.

They looked at 84 different genetic markers

and said that my brain tumor was likely from some kind

of environmental toxic.

Then she started thinking about the Hockomock swamp.

There was a strange cluster

of towns in southeastern Massachusetts, where we are,

that had contaminated water.

And I couldn't think of what we all had in common

other than the fact that we get sprayed

with this pesticide on an almost yearly basis.

Could the reason Easton's water is contaminated be related

to the fact that state officials in Massachusetts

had been using a pesticide sprayed over the Hockomock

and vast other areas around the state

to curb a deadly mosquito-borne virus?

Could those two things be related?

The state of Massachusetts engages in aerial spraying

of a pesticide called Anvil 10 + 10 to try

to kill these mosquitoes.

So I decided that we needed to test the Anvil.

She procured some jugs of Anvil 10 plus 10.

It's manufactured by a company called Clarke Mosquito.

And we tested Anvil

and found PFAS, including one

of the most dangerous

and most studied PFAS: PFOA in alarming levels.

PFOA. P-F-O-A is a long-chain PFAS, that is kind

of the poster child for long chains.

Long chains have this kind of backbone of carbon atoms

of eight or longer, and that is what makes them

so incredibly useful.

It makes them so incredibly persistent

and so incredibly dangerous.

They can take years,

if not more than a thousand years to degrade.

Researchers have found PFAS chemicals in seemingly every

place they've thought to look.

They've found them in the umbilical cords

of newborns in Taiwan.

They've found them in the breast milk of moms in Sweden.

They've found them in the blood of polar bears.

Researchers have linked PFAS exposure to various cancers,

infertility, birth defects.

The EPA now says that there is absolutely no safe level

of consumption of PFOA.

That means that any amount that you consume

increases your risk of cancer.

Late 2020, early 2021,

the EPA launches an investigation, tries

to figure out the answer.

They actually went to the manufacturer, Clarke.

And they tested the pesticide right out of the machinery

and that didn't have PFAS.

So they realized that it was

probably leaching from the plastic containers that

Clarke used to store their pesticide and sell it in.

The PFAS were being generated by the process

of fluorinating the plastic.

And then they were leaching into the pesticide as a result.

Now, this pesticide Anvil 10 + 10 was stored in what's

called a fluorinated container.

It's a special type of plastic that undergoes a process

in which it's exposed

to fluorine gas in order to strengthen it.

And this is a very useful type of plastic

that is used not just by pesticide companies,

but it turns out throughout the economy.

My name is Graham Peaslee

and I'm a professor at the University of Notre Dame.

My background is in nuclear chemistry

or nuclear science in general.

315 goes to 2.96 KEV.

And then the 6.4 KEV is iron going to be 679.

I measured fluorine using a technique

that people hadn't used before

and began a long, now 10 year journey into

where is PFAS, where does it go

and how do we measure more quickly and more accurately?

I met Kyla Bennett virtually during the Covid Pandemic

and Kyla and I, we got hold of a fluorinated container

that was sold as such,

and we got hold of a non-fluorinated

container of the same company.

And we designed a study where we would

see if we could reproduce the EPA early results of

what they saw in a plastic container.

And then they also put some ketchup and mayonnaise

and olive oil and things in them and tested those as well.

If somebody used it for food,

could it directly enter the food?

And the answer is yes, it could.

I wasn't shocked, but I was horrified.

I was, I think I cried.

Ultimately, the EPA determined

that just one company in the US is responsible

for fluorinated plastic

and specifically a process called

post-mold fluorinated plastic.

And that company is Inhance Technologies.

Inhance Technologies is based in

Houston, was started in 1983 by two guys.

Neither the EPA

nor Inhance has disclosed Inhance's customers.

But I was able to get my hand on some internal Inhance

documents to understand just

how pervasive fluorinated plastics were,

where in the economy they were used

and what types of companies were using them.

They're used by some

of the most recognizable consumer brands.

Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, BMW.

They're used to hold fluids that you have in your home

that you see in store shelves every day: weed killers,

household cleaners, cosmetics, shampoo, body wash.

Fluorinated plastics are

pervasive throughout the US economy.

So once EPA realized

that the PFAS in Anvil was coming from

the plastic containers, they came down hard on Clarke

and they made Clarke pull back all of their existing stock

and change their packaging.

Clarke almost immediately launched a recall

costing them millions of dollars.

Ultimately, the EPA issues what's called a Notice

of Violation to Inhance.

This was in March of 2022.

The production of these long-chain PFAS

through fluorination is illegal.

You shouldn't be doing it and you must stop.

Incredibly, Inhance says no, we're not going to stop.

They do say, we're going to try to change the process

to limit the amount of PFAS we generate,

but ultimately we're just not going to stop.

Inhance submitted thousands of pages

of documents saying, yeah, okay,

we're creating these PFAS, but it's really no big deal.

Ultimately, the Department of Justice gets involved, later

that year, with a lawsuit against Inhance saying,

you are violating US Chemical law

and asks the court to find it in violation.

Now Inhance in response,

their legal argument essentially boils down to two points.

One, the EPA doesn't have the authority to regulate

existing uses of these types of chemicals.

And the second argument that Inhance is making is

that the amount of PFAS it's generating

through fluorination is so small that

it's effectively not a problem.

When Clarke Mosquito had to

recall its Anvil 10 + 10 housed in fluorinated

containers, they had to figure out where to go next.

The ultimate answer was a company called BP Polymers.

So remember the, the main like three peaks?

Right.

This one peak right here.

So the blue sample is the one with Kortrax.

Kortrax it's,

the technical term is called polyamide,

which is the fancy way of saying nylon.

Kortrax is different than fluorination

in that Kortrax, being a nylon, it actually part

of the container itself, it's added to the plastic,

and then during the extrusion process, binds

with the plastic and becomes part of the container.

Because Kortrax is included into the manufacturing

of the bottle, it doesn't require this post

fluorination treatment.

It's not exposed to fluorine gas.

I am optimistic that over time those manufacturers

who are currently using fluorinated HDPE or using

the fluorination process,

I think they will continue to transition away from that.

Inhance continues to fluorinate plastics to this day,

despite the EPAs demand

that it stop, despite the lawsuit

from the Justice Department.

Kyla Bennett and other people will tell you

that this incident and what the EPA has

and hasn't done raises really tough questions about

whether the EPA is able

and willing to hold polluters accountable,

to really crack down when necessary.

I believe there are two reasons that EPA

is not on top of this.

One is it's really a huge can of worms,

and I think that they don't even know how

to begin to approach this.

I think they don't want to start a panic.

I think they don't know how or who to go after.

I'm not optimistic.

I, I can't sleep.

For years, I used one of the shampoos

that Inhance fluorinates

the containers of. And the skin on your scalp is the

thinnest skin in your body.

And I can't help but think, is that

what gave me my brain tumor?

I have very little hope on this.

Very little hope, but I can't stop fighting.

I just, it's not in my nature to stop fighting.