5 ms·

[citation needed]

takeda 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Health_concerns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Health_... Why do you think they are discontinuing it if it is so amazing in what it does?
- JamisonM 4y ago
  I am a disinterested observer in all this but the issues seem to be in the concentrations involved in the production of the materials, not in the wearing of them. The grandparent comment seems to imply that wearing these materials is a cancer risk but it really doesn't seem like that is the case. Am I wrong? I can't find anything that indicates it is an issue. (I live in an old house with some asbestos-wrapped ducts, I think asbestos is bad and should not be produced anymore but I also think that the duct wrap in my house is not endangering my family.. this seems like that sort of a situation to me.)
  - KSteffensen 4y ago
    The people wearing these things are probably not at any risk, but producing these chemicals means that they eventually end up in nature, which means in ground water, farmland, etc. These flourinated organics don't break down in nature, they are known as 'forever chemicals'. They just stick around and get concentrated as they climb up the food chain. Like dioxins, the best way to get rid of them is burning them at sufficiently high temperatures, which apparently not all industrial incinerators reach. I guess if enough of this stuff is pumped into the environment eventually some fungus or something will learn how to decompose it, but there will be a lot of cancer case before we get there.
wgjordan 4y ago
The CDC's ToxFAQs page on Perfluoroalkyls [1] is one starting point, refer to the full 993-page report [2] for all the gritty details. Here's a high-level summary of the evidence on cancer risks: > The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 2017) concluded that PFOA is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), and EPA (2016e, 2016f) concluded that there was suggestive evidence of the carcinogenic potential of PFOA and PFOS in humans. Increases in testicular and kidney cancer have been observed in highly exposed humans. Less research on PFOS that aren't PFOA though, so there's room for dismissing the available evidence if you're so inclined. [1] https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=1116&toxid=237 https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=1... [2] https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf
- ch4s3 4y ago
  My question for things like this is how do you get exposed? Does it absorb through the skin from a garment under normal conditions?
- concordDance 4y ago
  So just some suggestive evidence and confounders could exist.

[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Health_concerns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Health_... Why do you think they are discontinuing it if it is so amazing in what it does?

JamisonM 4y ago
I am a disinterested observer in all this but the issues seem to be in the concentrations involved in the production of the materials, not in the wearing of them. The grandparent comment seems to imply that wearing these materials is a cancer risk but it really doesn't seem like that is the case. Am I wrong? I can't find anything that indicates it is an issue. (I live in an old house with some asbestos-wrapped ducts, I think asbestos is bad and should not be produced anymore but I also think that the duct wrap in my house is not endangering my family.. this seems like that sort of a situation to me.)
- KSteffensen 4y ago
  The people wearing these things are probably not at any risk, but producing these chemicals means that they eventually end up in nature, which means in ground water, farmland, etc. These flourinated organics don't break down in nature, they are known as 'forever chemicals'. They just stick around and get concentrated as they climb up the food chain. Like dioxins, the best way to get rid of them is burning them at sufficiently high temperatures, which apparently not all industrial incinerators reach. I guess if enough of this stuff is pumped into the environment eventually some fungus or something will learn how to decompose it, but there will be a lot of cancer case before we get there.

wgjordan 4y ago

The CDC's ToxFAQs page on Perfluoroalkyls [1] is one starting point, refer to the full 993-page report [2] for all the gritty details. Here's a high-level summary of the evidence on cancer risks: > The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 2017) concluded that PFOA is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), and EPA (2016e, 2016f) concluded that there was suggestive evidence of the carcinogenic potential of PFOA and PFOS in humans. Increases in testicular and kidney cancer have been observed in highly exposed humans. Less research on PFOS that aren't PFOA though, so there's room for dismissing the available evidence if you're so inclined. [1] https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=1116&toxid=237 https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=1... [2] https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf

ch4s3 4y ago
My question for things like this is how do you get exposed? Does it absorb through the skin from a garment under normal conditions?
concordDance 4y ago
So just some suggestive evidence and confounders could exist.