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Dental Floss Is Shedding Potentially Harmful Chemicals
The question popped up earlier this year in a Reddit discussion on dental hygiene: Anyone notice that Oral-B floss suddenly seemed different? “It feels more plastic-like, rougher, less smooth,” the Reddit user noted. Wrote another: “It feels like I’m going to take a tooth along with it when I pull it out.”
Some dental floss manufacturers have indeed been quietly moving away from the synthetic material PTFE, which helped their product slip smoothly between teeth. Their decisions follow studies raising concerns as well as consumer worries and state regulation of consumer products containing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
PTFE — most famous for its brand name Teflon — falls under the PFAS category. Exposure to these per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds has been linked to adverse health effects that include a risk of certain cancers, reduced immune response and reproductive problems. Such risks have not been established specifically for PTFE.
Researchers Have Found Microplastics May Produce Harmful Molecules in Blood
A study found that when microplastics come into contact with blood, they can produce molecules that may damage cells. In a study recently published in the journal Nature, researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, examined microparticles made from several common plastics, including polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene.
They found that contact with water could cause the surfaces of these particles to become chemically reactive, according to a university news release. “Water molecules become chemically active when they come into contact with plastic, which is hydrophobic,” Columbia professor Wei Min said in the release. “Contact between the water and plastic creates an environment that facilitates electron transfer and the formation of reactive radicals.
When plastics fragment into smaller particles, their increasing surface-to-volume ratio creates more of these chemically active areas.” New Scientist reported that, in water, those charges were found to pull DNA and other biological material toward the particles’ surfaces.
Dr Marc Siegel: Iowa’s Cancer Rate Is Rising. One Answer May Be Found in the Water
There is a growing concern in Iowa that the increasing cancer rate (10% over the national average, including rates of prostate, breast, colorectal, melanoma and lung cancer) at a time when cancer onset is decreasing in all but three states, could be associated in part with toxins in the environment.
Iowa is a big producer of corn and soybeans and also raises hogs. Corn and soy production leads to nitrogen runoff, which can end up in river water used for drinking. The EPA doesn’t yet list nitrates, which come from chemical fertilizers and animal waste, as carcinogens, but they can be converted inside the human body via nitrosation into probable carcinogens. At the same time, there is concern about the use of pesticides and “forever chemicals.”
The Make America Healthy Again movement, led by HHS Secretary RFK Jr., has put its big thumb on the scale in favor of decreasing exposure to these chemicals. Candidates on both sides of the political aisle are jumping on board.
Toledo, Ohio Hit With Evacuations and Shelter-in-Place Orders After Toxic Chemical Release
A chemical tank explosion in Toledo, Ohio, forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes or shelter in place Wednesday due to fears of a toxic release and the possibility of another explosion.
Video showed a plume billowing from the tank Wednesday morning, hours after the leak first erupted Tuesday night. Some residents felt irritation in their eyes and throats, and one sheriff’s deputy who responded to the blast drove himself to a hospital because he felt unwell, city officials said.
MC Tank Transport said the tank contained glycidyl methacrylate, which it described as “an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics, paints and coatings perform better.”
Similar to Previous Studies, Researchers Find Pesticides Affect Liver Function
How does occupational pesticide exposure impact hepatological (liver) health? Researchers at Hanoi University of Public Health, in a study in Diseases, a journal of Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), identify significant increases in liver biomarkers among fruit farmers relative to non-exposed community members.
With the understanding that pesticides can drive oxidative stress and other forms of hepatotoxic cell damage/death, increased presence of biomarkers is a clinical manifestation of adverse effects on the liver and has been linked through epidemiological data with “increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma” among those chronically exposed to pesticides.
These findings build on the preponderance of independent, peer-reviewed science that finds significant harms and adverse impacts of chemical-intensive agriculture on biodiversity, public health, and climate resilience. In this context, communities across the U.S. (and globally) continue to transition to organic land management and alternative systems that reduce or eliminate their reliance on products that fuel dependency on fossil fuels.
3M PFAS Pollution Has Made Drinking Water a Campaign Issue in This East Metro Legislative District
While door-knocking in Hastings, MN this summer, clean drinking water was high on Tom Dippel’s list of talking points with community members. “The water issue is a very local issue here,” explained Dippel, a Republican state Senate candidate who resides in Cottage Grove and currently serves in the Minnesota House.
Five of Hasting’s six municipal wells exceed federal safe drinking water limits for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). These are synthetic, hard-to-break-down chemicals that can lead to cancer, infertility and other major health issues in humans and animals.
The chemicals are used in thousands of household items like nonstick cookware, water-resistant fabrics and cleaning products, including many manufactured by Maplewood-based 3M.
