I hope that approach is a thing of a past. And they identified some of the specific health risks and then went on and approved the chemicals. Because even back in 2011, that was 10 years ago, they knew that these chemicals were extremely dangerous, and that the chemicals that they were looking at specifically could break down into PFAS. GOTTLIEB: It really was disappointing that the Environmental Protection Agency decided to approve chemicals for use in oil and drilling, knowing what they knew. (Photo: Courtesy of Physicians for Social Responsibility)
We spoke with Barbara Gottlieb, Environment & Health Program Director for Physicians for Social Responsibility.īarbara Gottlieb is the Environment and Health Program Director for Physicians for Social Responsibility. This means that people who live near fracking wells and are typically exposed to PFAS through contaminated groundwater may continue to bear the chemical body burden, even if they leave the area. Some call them “forever chemicals” due to how they don’t readily break down in the body or in our environment. PFAS are a class of chemicals linked to a multitude of health problems, not just infertility, but cancers, birth defects, and suppressed immune systems to name a few. EPA officials had even recommended additional testing, but these tests were not mandatory and none of the documents indicated that the tests were actually carried out. The records obtained by the nonprofit group show that the EPA was concerned that three chemicals used in fracking would break down into toxic PFAS, but they approved these chemicals anyway.
E.p.a. toxic fracking ago new files series#
O’NEILL: Physicians for Social Responsibility recently used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain and make public a series of decade-old internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill has more. And despite their dangers to public health and fertility, back in 2011 the Obama Administration approved the use of PFAS chemicals in fracking wells for oil and gas. Not only can they wreak havoc with hormone systems they are also linked to metabolic disorders and cancers. For example, PFAS chemicals can contaminate food and water. But much of the chemical basis linked to growing infertility is beyond the reach of individual human choice and control. And fewer people consuming the earth’s finite resources could have environmental benefits. Of course, much of the decline in global human population that is now projected to occur by the end of the century can be attributed to the increased education of women and growing acceptance of birth control practices. Declining fertility is already contributing to the extinction crisis among wildlife, likely on a bigger scale than the already observed effects of DDT on the eggs of many bird species including bald eagles. Researchers say numerous synthetic chemicals that can disrupt the hormone systems involved in human and animal reproduction are to blame. And some women in their twenties are now seeing declines in the vitality of their eggs that used to be common for women in their thirties. In fact fertility rates are dropping in many parts of the world, including the United States where the sperm counts of men are now half of what they were in 1970. One reason is sharply declining fertility rates in China. You may have noticed China recently announced couples can now have as many as three children, after having already reversed its one child policy to allow two. In today’s broadcast you are going to hear about a massive threat to human and other animal life on earth that few people are talking about yet. CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth.
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