In The NBC article “Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ are Everywhere. The EPA has a New Plan to Crack Down”, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Frank Thorp V explain the crisis on PFAs and the steps that are being followed in order to protect the nation from these harmful chemicals.
Figure 1: The chemical structure of PFAs.
PFAs, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” are materials that cannot be broken down due to strong carbon-fluoride bonds. These chemicals are able to seep into groundwater or released into the air and cause harmful health conditions such as high cholesterol, immunosuppression, infertility, cancers, and reduced vaccine efficiency. Two of the biggest polluters of these PFAs are the Department of Defense and the chemical manufacturers. These polluters are consequently infecting people that live in these areas, such as the instance mentioned in the article where a woman grew up next to a Navy base and possibly ingested these chemicals. As a result, she developed melanoma at the age of 25.
Figure 2: Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania.
Although these organizations are responsible for environmental pollution of PFAs, they are not the only source. Food packaging products, pans, clothes, shoes, carpets, and cosmetics are also found to have these toxic chemicals within them.
Figure 3: Examples of products that contain PFAs.
The issue has been known for quite some time now, but the only action that was taken was the monitoring of water near contamination sites. Even then, very little has been done to rectify the contamination. Now, the EPA is creating a plan to implement new requirements and restrictions for drinking water PFA contamination. These regulations will be set by Fall of 2023. In this plan, the amount of PFAs present in drinking water must in the acceptable range, which the FDA recommends to be 70 parts per trillion. The EDA is also planning to restrict companies from dumping these chemicals into waterways. In October, California has banned the use of PFAs in baby and toddler products and these type of actions are likely to be followed by other states, as well.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/can-epa-get-rid-toxic-forever-chemicals-n1281707
Your title picks up on the effective notion of "forever chemicals." Your opening paragraph appropriately starts with the source, the general concern and the point of the source article which is the reasonably imminent possibility of government action. The PFA structure (actually perflouro-octanoic acid, a chemical once used in the manufacture of teflon) helps center the discussion on chemistry. It also illustrates the chemical point that the strong C-F bonds in the structure are the source of the long term stability of the compounds. I would use "associated with" rather than "cause" in the second sentence of the second paragraph. The evidence associating PFAs with most of these conditions is of varied strength and "cause" is probably too strong a word for at least some of them. You also summarize concisely the actions the EPA is undertaking. Overall an informative and effective post.
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