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Most Americans are oblivious to 'forever chemicals' and risks, research finds
- andtong 3y ago[dead]
- verve_rat 3y agoVoting with your wallet never works. You need to vote with your vote, or better yet, vote with a billionaire's wallet and buy some lobbyists.
- thuridas 3y agoWhy not both. To start a change you need to vote with your wallet. To make it law you need to vote in your ballot
- ethanbond 3y ago“Why not” in this case because you have no clue which products have or don’t have these compounds, and whether any alternatives exist. I go way out of my way to buy products that are specifically branded as free of e.g. PFAS, like in shampoos, but these “loudly branded” alternatives don’t exist in most categories.
- orangepurple 3y agoBuying lobbyists works. You may need a few years or a few more decades to realize your other claims also don't work because the system has been completely gamed by vested interests.
- seec 3y agoI would argue that it is actually the only thing that works, and the "real" vote is just for shows. You kinda agree with that in your last sentence. I don't think "real" voting works because it just reflects the aggregate of people's choices on a single variable. But your choices in life are an almost infinite number of variables and they almost always involve money/ressources. It's gotta be a more effective reflection when you consider the aggregate. But anyway, in this case, I think the outrage is completely blown out of proportion and it probably isn't as bad as they make it out to be. It reads like a propaganda campaign from some government employed scientist that want funding to research the subject. I mean we should put some funds into it, but they have to give really hard results that it is actually a problem. So far everything on the subject is rather elusive and surface level. They use a lot of flowery language but not a whole lot of hard data...
- autoexec 3y agoWe need to stop pretending that voting with our wallet is effective. Nobody voted for toxic products in the first place. When consumers demanded Teflon free products companies just used slightly different chemicals that were just as bad.
- ericfrazier 3y agoTell that to Bud Light that voting with your wallet is ineffective.
- autoexec 3y agoDid they stop making Bud Light? Did Anheuser-Busch go out of business? Seems like it's still the largest brewer in the world and still pulling in billions every year. I'm sure they'd have preferred to make even more money on top of the massive piles of cash they're swimming in, but they're sure as hell not hurting.
- imadierich 3y ago[dead]
- mint2 3y agoBiodegradable as in compostable? Too bad they’re often lined with teflon.
- idontwantthis 3y agoWtf are you supposed to do about it if you are not “oblivious”?
- pyrale 3y agoAvoid buying products using them, for instance.
- BiteCode_dev 3y agoHonestly, I'm pretty picky about the food at buy at the store, and even I can't tell anymore if something is safe appart from raw fruits and vegetables I buy from a local old man I've known for years. And I live in France, with very protective laws, and parents that educated me to choose wisely. How the average American, with the worst consumer protection laws and a terrible food culture, is supposed to find a way?
- CoastalCoder 3y ago> How the average American, with the worst consumer protection laws ... Surely there's some hyperbole there. For example, the US doesn't have a problem with lead chromate in their turmeric.
- uoaei 3y agoExceptions don't disprove rules. Exceptions don't disprove rules. Exceptions don't disprove rules.
- CoastalCoder 3y agoThe GP stated that the US has the worst protections. So a single counterexample suffices.
- uoaei 3y agoNo it doesn't. Statistics is robust to outliers compared to logic, and GP was making a statistical claim.
- fake-name 3y agoResigned, not oblivious. I'm not exactly happy they're around, but WTF am I supposed to do as an individual? I mean, I vote, but other then that. This shit is used everywhere, and its not exactly something you can easily look up on your phone when you're in a store.
- phildenhoff 3y agoFor lots of beauty/care products, Yuka does a great job of letting you check if a product has PFAS in it while in store. It supports some food too, iirc. But I’m not sure if there’s a better app overall
- hedora 3y agoFor food, the answer is basically always “yes” or “probably” if the question is “does this contain an estrogen analog derived from petrochemicals that causes developmental and reproductive harm, and cancer?” (So, does it contain PFAS or similar equally bad compounds?) That includes stuff like biodegradable straws (~= paper dipped in PFAS), produce (plastic food wax is common) and meat (packaging, plastic-coated butcher paper).
- userbinator 3y agoPFAS are called "forever chemicals" because their bonds between carbon and fluorine molecules, one of the strongest chemical bonds possible, make PFAS removal and breakdown very difficult. It also makes them very inert.
- privacyking 3y agoFrom a chemical bond point of view, sure, but they are also known to be teratogenic (birth defects) and carcinogenic (cancer).
- billyjmc 3y agoChemically unreactive doesn’t mean biologically non-interacting.
- mandmandam 3y agoI'm curious how you came to this conclusion - what publication did you read this in? And, if you please, why do you feel confident enough to imply these chemicals are safe? Are you an expert in biological processes?
- mxmbrb 3y agoThats common chemical knowledge. Don't be that guy. Still, as other pointed out, he missed the point by a mile.
- mandmandam 3y agoHere's the thing: there's a big gap between some scientific terms and terms as normal, ie, most people understand them. In this case, the word is 'inert'. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to want to know who is telling people PFAS are inert, with the implication being 'safe'. Nothing 'that guy' about it.
- graphe 3y agoThat's what I thought too reading this. What are the problems associated with PFAS?
- deegles 3y agoI installed a reverse osmosis water filter, switched to cast iron or stainless steel cookware, and use glass for food storage as much as I can. I wish there was an easy test for my level of exposure but I'm definitely aware.
- FirmwareBurner 3y agoHow do you deal with groceries who are unavoidably always packed in plastics like Joghurts?
- fleischhauf 3y agoat least in Germany you can also get yogurt from a glass. there is even a shop where you can buy things without packaging in Berlin.
- FirmwareBurner 3y agoSome fancy and expensive joghurts yes, but there's much more dairy that only comes in plastic like cottage cheese, Greek, Faye, Quark, etc., and not everyone lives in a major city where eco friendly shops or farmer markets that sell things without packaging. 90% of the time you're limited by what your local supermarkets provide.
- hedora 3y agoHome made yogurt is pretty easy to make, assuming you can find milk in a jar. (Instant Pots are stainless steel and often have a yogurt button, or you can get a dedicated plastic yogurt maker for ~ $20).
- esafak 3y agoGet a live starter. In the US I recommend White Mountain Bulgarian Yogurt. Divide it up into an ice tray and freeze it as backup in case you lose your existing batch of yogurt.
- wil421 3y ago
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoI am one of those oblivious ones. Not that I am unaware, just powerless to do anything about it.
- BobaFloutist 3y agoCall me crazy, but this should really not be the responsibility of the average consumer to keep track of.
- cj 3y agoYea. This should be the job of scientists and regulators. Scientists probably need to be government employed since free market capitalism has zero incentive to keep consumers safe from things that kill slowly over time. Private companies can fix product-health problems quickly when it's killing their customers and therefore revenue stream, but if the killing is so slow that the effects don't arise for years later, there's not much of incentive to do anything about it.