Center for Environmental Health

1.5 million North Carolina residents have been exposed to toxic #PFAS (#ForeverChemicals) in their drinking water. And EPA is not protecting them. Alongside our partners at Clean Cape Fear, Cape Fear River Watch, and Toxic Free NC, we formally petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force Chemours - the DuPont spinoff company that has released PFAS chemicals into the Cape Fear River and surrounding drinking water aquifers - to pay for #health studies on 54 different PFAS chemicals released to the environment, including several found in the river, the source of #drinkingwater for nearly a half million residents, and private drinking water wells. But EPA denied the petition, and the groups are challenging this decision in court. While residents of the Cape Fear region continue to lose friends and family due to rare forms of cancer and other diseases linked to PFAS, struggle to pay growing medical bills, and fight for clean drinking water at home and in schools, Chemours seeks to grow its profits by expanding its operations and the EPA refuses to use its authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to hold a known polluter accountable for critical testing on the health impacts of its chemicals. This is environmental injustice in action - and it has to stop. President Joe Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan have committed to acting on PFAS. This would be an opportunity for them to turn their words into actions. Sign the petition, and tell EPA to protect people - not polluters. Visit ceh.org/CapeFearCourage to join the fight. #CapeFearCourage #EnvironmentalJustice

“EPA recognized the existence of an unreasonable, imminent hazard several months ago but has yet to deliver the necessary action to protect #publichealth." -Robert Sussman, CEH counsel Read about our work with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in Bloomberg. #PFAS #Plastics

🏊🏽 GOOD NEWS for swimmers on Opening Day of the #Olympics! As a result of CEH’s legal action, Speedo has agreed to reformulate its swim caps to remove NDEA - a cancer-causing chemical - from its swim caps. While Speedo could have opted to apply Proposition 65 warnings on its products to inform consumers of NDEA, the swimwear company agreed to remove the chemical from its products to protect its customers’ health. This is one of the many ways in which California’s consumer #health law (Proposition 65) not only gives California citizens their right to know if a toxic chemical is in a product they might purchase, but has the potential to protect consumers nationwide when companies opt to remove toxic chemicals from their products. We can all agree that the absence of toxic chemicals is ALWAYS better than a warning for the presence of toxic chemicals. And now, as you cheer on Olympic swimmers as they race for gold, or put on your swim cap before laps or a meet, you can rest assured knowing that Speedo’s swim caps no longer contain this harmful chemical. More info: https://lnkd.in/g7RQAZWy #Paris2024

“EPA’s failure to protect the public from exposures to toxic PFOA in their daily lives is inexcusable and reflects a severe leadership deficit at the agency.” -Kyla Bennett, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

“Everyone has a right to turn on their kitchen tap and have safe water, so we will continue to fight the chemical industry and others who try to block efforts to protect our health from toxic hazards.” -Sarah Tallman, NRDC (National Resources Development Council #genx #pfas #foreverchemicals #drinkingwater

“There’s real confusion over what is really #biodegradable, what is really #compostable, what is #EarthFriendly.” -Judith Enck Be sure to learn about your community's waste collection system, and avoid single-use!

👍🏽 GOOD NEWS to start your week: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport takes a big step to protect firefighters' health and safety by removing toxic #PFAS chemicals from fire trucks! 🚒💧 #firefighters #foreverchemicals #seattle Port of Seattle

Children in disadvantaged communities are disproportionately impacted by lead in consumer products. Our latest study explores this critical issue. Learn more about the study: https://lnkd.in/eyCuimiF Center for Environmental Health #LeadPoisoning #LeadPoisoningPrevention #PublicHealthAction

🍎 In case you needed a reminder, buy #organic whenever you can! #Pesticides are bad for our #health, for the health of those who farm our food, and for the bugs we don't want to kill like pollinators! Plus, pesticides can cause all sorts of trouble when they run off of agriculture and into the watershed. 🤮☣️ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gNbq-6Xh

No one wants Monsanto's weedkiller RoundUp in their cereal. 🤮 But our independent testing of a variety of cereals in 2020 found residue levels of the weed killer #glyphosate - the active ingredient in RoundUp. This toxic chemical can cause #cancer, birth defects, and disrupt hormone function. ***The best way to avoid glyphosate is to buy #organic whenever possible.*** We tested a variety of cereals and found glyphosate contamination in the following products: Cereal Results:* Beech-Nut Oatmeal (baby) 735 ppb Beech-Nut Organic Oatmeal (baby) none detected Cascadian Farms Organic Honey Nut O’s none detected Comforts Apple & Oatmeal with Cinnamon Baby Food Puree none detected Gerber Single Grain Oatmeal (baby) 545 ppb Great Value O’s Oat Cereal 1220 ppb Post Honey Bunches of Oats-Crunchy Honey Roasted none detected Honey Nut Cheerios 557 ppb Trader Joe’s Joe’s O’s Toasted Whole Grain Oats Cereal 672 ppb Kroger Toasted Oats Cereal 346 ppb Market Pantry Toasted Oats Whole Grain Oat Cereal 826 ppb Malt O Meal Marshmallow Mateys (cereal) 303 ppb Quaker Life Original Multigrain Cereal (cereal) 1254 ppb Quaker Oatmeal Squares with a hint of Brown Sugar (cereal) 2015 ppb Signature Kitchens Honey Nut Toasted Oats 762 ppb *These results are consistent with a US FDA study of oatmeal (300 – 1670 ppb of glyphosate). Other Results: Enfamil Prosobee Soy For Sensitive Tummy Formula none detected Gerber Graduate Cereal Bars Strawberry Banana 142 ppb Nature Valley Soft Baked Oatmeal Squares Cinnamon Brown Sugar (bars) 39 ppb Similac Soy Isomil For Fussiness & Gas Formula none detected Up&Up Soy Infant Formula with Iron none detected Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gmtrYZqB