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Scientists Warn That Your Morning Cup of Coffee or Tea Is Likely Full of Invisible Microplastics
A new study tested everyday drinks and found that hot tea and hot coffee contained the highest concentrations of invisible microplastics. Microplastics have now been found in just about every place that scientists search for them. They have been detected in human blood and in human brains, and even in human testicles.
The team sampled 155 beverages across 31 drink types from U.K. shops and cafes, then counted synthetic plastic particles larger than 10 micrometers using micro FT-IR imaging. The highest averages showed up in hot tea and hot coffee, while iced versions of the same drinks contained fewer particles.
The study team included Mohamed Abou-Elwafa Abdallah, of University of Birmingham. The work focused on synthetics rather than natural fibers, and it cataloged the polymer types most often found.
Bucking Its Deregulation Agenda, EPA Says Polluters Must Pay for PFAS Cleanup
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported:
Two of the oldest and most toxic PFAS chemicals will remain in a federal cleanup law, keeping the onus for the industrial pollution on the companies that created it, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided.
Since he was sworn in at the end of January, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has pushed to shrink the size of the agency and said the agency should have an active role in supporting automakers, AI developers and other industries. Traditionally, the EPA has defined its mission as protecting human health and the environment. But in a statement about the PFAS decision last week, Zeldin said he had “heard loud and clear from the American people, from Congress, and from local municipalities about this particular issue.”
The move means companies that have previously made or used the chemicals, like Maplewood-based 3M, will face liability in federally led efforts to remove them from the environment. Already, widespread PFAS contamination has been expensive for 3M: The company settled for $850 million with the state of Minnesota in 2018 over widespread pollution in the eastern Twin Cities metro, and last year struck a $12.5 billion settlement with cities and towns across the country who have to filter PFAS out of their drinking water.
Chicago Has Hundreds of Thousands of Toxic Lead Pipes—and Millions of Unspent Dollars to Replace Them
No U.S. city has more toxic lead pipes pumping water into people’s homes. And millions of federal and city dollars earmarked to replace them remain unused, a city official said Monday, at the same time that the city is struggling to keep up with deadlines to warn people of the risks. Replacements of Chicago’s more than 412,000 confirmed and suspected lead service lines are lagging.
The city doesn’t anticipate replacing all its pipes until 2076, some 30 years after a federal deadline. Lead plumbing can leach the toxic metal into drinking water, causing brain damage, developmental delays and other harms. Water department officials say they can’t afford to move as quickly as federal deadlines require, but Department of Finance debt manager Brendan White told a City Council committee on Monday that millions of federal and city dollars obligated for replacements haven’t been used yet.
Since 2023, the city has drawn between $70 million and $90 million of an approximately $325 million federal loan for lead service line replacements that expires next year, White said, adding that the city expects to spend the money much more quickly in 2026.
Nitrate Contamination of Drinking Water Could Cost Wisconsin Communities Millions, New Report Finds
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
Nitrate contamination could cost communities millions of dollars in remediation and lead to higher health care bills for those who live in areas of high concentrations, according to a new report.
The study, “Nitrates on Tap,” was conducted by the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Clean Wisconsin, and outlines the costs of nitrate contamination, which is impacting thousands of residents in largely rural areas where people rely on private drinking water wells.
According to estimates in the report, 16 million pounds of excess fertilizer were applied to farm fields statewide in 2022 alone. That over-application has resulted in nitrates reaching surface water, groundwater, private wells and public drinking water systems, risking the health of Wisconsinites.
Michigan Extracts $1.38M in PFAS Settlements From Mill Owners
Past and present owners of a St. Joseph County paper mill that’s released PFAS pollution to the White Pigeon River have agreed to pay the state of Michigan about $1.38 million. On Sept. 5, Ox Industries of Pennsylvania agreed to pay $95,200 in civil fines and take steps to close wastewater lagoons and stop toxic discharges at its paperboard mill in White Pigeon.
The settlement follows a separate consent deal in April with former mill owner Artistic Carton Company, which agreed to pay about $1.18 million toward state-led cleanup at the riverside mill at 15781 River Street.
“These settlements send a clear message that Michigan will hold polluters accountable and take action to safeguard our natural resources,” said Phil Roos, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The state attorney general’s office sued Ox last October in Ingham County Circuit Court, alleging a history of untreated wastewater spills and “years of inaction” on contaminated lagoon cleanup.
