The Opinions - These Chemicals Are Hurting Us. Why Aren’t We Regulating Them?

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

They’ve been found in our milk, our eggs, our water supply and our bodies.In this audio essay, the environmental activist Erin Brockovich makes the case for better regulation of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, contaminating our world. PFAS exposure has been associated with fertility issues and developmental delays in children. And while lawsuits have been filed against some of the biggest manufacturers of PFAS, Ms. Brockovich says those suits aren’t the only — or even the best — solution. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it. My name is Aaron Brockovich. And what do I do? Well, I do a whole lot of things, but I'm mostly known because of a film called Aaron Brockovich starring Julia Roberts. I am a consumer advocate and an environmental activist. We'll keep it short and sweet because I could go on and on and on. Every day for decades, I get emails from people, and it's not a few emails here and there. It is relentless, and it's coming from people with environmental concerns, groundwater contamination, and mostly about disease, illness, and cancers. What is this chemical? Why it's in my water? What am I supposed to do? Is this why my son has testicular? cancer. Is this why I lost my life to liver cancer? Every single day, all day, tens upon tens of

thousands of people and communities. It was about three and a half years ago, I got a letter from Lawrence and Penny Higgins up in Maine, and they had high levels of per and polyfluoral alkalized substances or Phaas in their water. So Phaas is a group of chemicals. There's about 16,000 of them, which we only know enough, maybe 8 to 12. So we got a lot more to do while it's running rampant in the environment. But most people would know it as Teflon. You remember Teflon on our pans? People would know it as firefighting foam.

People would know it as flame retardant. Oh, so many different places. Health problems that were now identifying associated with experiments. exposure to PFS, include fertility issues, developmental delays in children, increase risk of certain cancers and obesity. So we've been monitoring what's going on with this chemical for quite some time. So I was like, my gosh, up in Maine. And the first thing that comes to me, all the beautiful farmland, all the beautiful water, everything it represents, and a food chain that's beautiful. So I called them, and they let me know that, unbeknownst to them, that they had this chemical in their well water. And what had happened was the USDA had contacted one of the dairy farmers and found out that those cows had PIFOS contaminated milk.

So they had to pull all of it off the shelf. They conducted testing around the state and realized that. that this entire aquifer and many locations throughout the state had been contaminated with this chemical. The P-FOS isn't chicken eggs. And all these residents had to have filtration systems put on their wells. This is a really disturbing situation and scenario that they were informing me of. And we've gone out there, we've worked with them. There has been a lawsuit filed.

But a chemical. had now destroyed their farmland, destroyed their water, and destroyed their food supply, and their health. And that's one example of PIFOS. Scientists have shown throughout the United States, most all Americans have some levels of PIFOS in their blood. And the number of U.S. communities reported content. with the P-Fos compounds continues to grow, and it's growing rapidly.

We said 15 years ago it will be the largest emerging, dangerous, contaminant this country's ever seen. So what's happening and why it is getting worse is because now that science is in, everybody's looking for it. So now we're going and testing. wells going, oh my gosh, this is contaminated with PFOS. State by state by state. Yeah, it's emerging into a nightmare. In April, the EPA mandated that municipal water systems removed six PFOS chemicals from tap water.

People don't always appreciate or understand regulations. And we have a lot of great regulations on the book. I have a whole lot of things to say about the Chevron decision that came down from the Supreme Court because now you're going to have less oversight and less ability to enforce these regulations that, frankly, we need. We don't want to see a deregulated airline. We don't want to see a deregulated water system because at that point, there's no oversight to ensure the health and the welfare and the safety of all people. countless lawsuits have been filed against 3M and DuPont,

and it is estimated that it could cost them trillions of dollars for health impacts, destruction of the land, the food chain, the water supply. I certainly believe litigation in these environmental issues is not the only answer, and it is certainly not the solution to the problem. dealing with the problem at the onset with better regulations and better oversight and more enforcement

on that issue is the solution. At a party, somebody will always ask me a water question but the time I leave, they're like, don't invite her again. If you like this show, follow it on Spotify, Apple,

or wherever you get your podcasts. This show is produced by Derek Arthur, Sophia Alvarez Boyd, Veshaca, Fiby Lett, Christina Samuelski and Jillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin, Alison Brusek, and Annie Rose Strasser. Engineering, mixing, and original music by Isaac Jones, Sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Saburo, and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Amin Sahota.

The fact check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Lacher, and Michelle Harris. Audience Strategy by Shannon Busta, Christina Samuelski, and Adrian Rivera. The executive producer of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Dresser.