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> Rainwater almost everywhere on Earth has unsafe levels of ‘forever chemicals’, according to new research. And yet the title of the research paper, the journa

by yuan43 4y ago

> Rainwater almost everywhere on Earth has unsafe levels of ‘forever chemicals’, according to new research. And yet the title of the research paper, the journal in which it was published, or even the vaguest description of the experiment that was performed are not mentioned. I've given up ever getting a direct link to a paper, but this takes laziness and cynicism to new extremes. Abysmal science reporting.

meltyness 4y ago
I suspect the root cause is this linguistically unfortunate journal title: "Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for [PFAS]" which you can attempt to review here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 It would seem environmental science wishes to call everything an environment, and discuss the status of the PFAS chemosphere, which would be confusing if you weren't paying close attention. Edit: The abstract was also, maybe geared towards SEO? Discoverability? Here's maybe a clearer rendition "ABSTRACT: It is hypothesized that environmental contamination by [PFAS] [is spreading globally, by clouds and rain in the atmosphere]. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the levels of four selected [PFAS substances] in [rainwater, soils, and surface waters] with [state agency guidelines]. [...] it is concluded that (1) levels [in rainwater] often greatly exceed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ["Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisory levels"] and [are] often above Danish drinking water limit[s...] (2) levels [...] in rainwater are often above Environmental Quality Standard for Inland European Union Surface Water; and (3) [the rain contaminates the soil, on a widespread basis] above proposed Dutch guideline values. It is, therefore, concluded that the [rainwater, soils, and surface waters, across the earth, have all been contaminated]. [We also hypothesize] [the soil contamination] are especially poorly reversible because of the high persistence of [the chemicals] and their ability to continuously cycle [...]. Because of the poor reversibility of environmental exposure to PFAS and their associated effects, it is vitally important that PFAS uses and emissions are rapidly restricted."
schroeding 4y ago
Yeah, it's frustrating. :/ Direct link to the study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 Cousins et al., Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Environmental Science & Technology, 2022

by yuan43 4y ago

meltyness 4y ago

I suspect the root cause is this linguistically unfortunate journal title: "Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for [PFAS]" which you can attempt to review here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 It would seem environmental science wishes to call everything an environment, and discuss the status of the PFAS chemosphere, which would be confusing if you weren't paying close attention. Edit: The abstract was also, maybe geared towards SEO? Discoverability? Here's maybe a clearer rendition "ABSTRACT: It is hypothesized that environmental contamination by [PFAS] [is spreading globally, by clouds and rain in the atmosphere]. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the levels of four selected [PFAS substances] in [rainwater, soils, and surface waters] with [state agency guidelines]. [...] it is concluded that (1) levels [in rainwater] often greatly exceed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ["Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisory levels"] and [are] often above Danish drinking water limit[s...] (2) levels [...] in rainwater are often above Environmental Quality Standard for Inland European Union Surface Water; and (3) [the rain contaminates the soil, on a widespread basis] above proposed Dutch guideline values. It is, therefore, concluded that the [rainwater, soils, and surface waters, across the earth, have all been contaminated]. [We also hypothesize] [the soil contamination] are especially poorly reversible because of the high persistence of [the chemicals] and their ability to continuously cycle [...]. Because of the poor reversibility of environmental exposure to PFAS and their associated effects, it is vitally important that PFAS uses and emissions are rapidly restricted."

schroeding 4y ago

Yeah, it's frustrating. :/ Direct link to the study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765 Cousins et al., Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Environmental Science & Technology, 2022