If rain and tap water are contaminated by forever chemicals, and restaurant food too, it’s time to eat at home to lessen chances of contamination from forever chemicals

Especially when fluorine, a sign of the presence of forever chemicals, is present in 38 percent of sandwich and burger wrappers

Rainfall, contains forever chemicals; Credit, Global News

Researchers at the University of Stockholm found that forever chemicals appear in rainwater around the globe. Even in the remotest parts of the earth such as Antarctica and on the Tibetan plateau, forever chemicals exist above the advisories set for drinking water.

In another development, more than 200 million people drink tap water tainted with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at concentrations of one part of a trillion or higher. The British Broadcasting Corporation took tap water samples from sites in England, and even though the samples did not exceed the advisory of 100ng/L Level, 25 out of the 45 samples contained forever chemicals, with four exceeding 10ng/L Level, almost half exceeding the European Food Standard Agency’s tolerable limit of 2.2ng/L Level.

A closer look at forever chemicals, Credit, Indiatimes.com

Forever chemicals contaminate groundwater around six military sites in the United States. Seventy-five percent of Africa’s drinking water comes from groundwater, but chemical contaminants in it serve as a cause for pollution. Groundwater in south Asia, especially shallow groundwater, gets polluted by forever chemical contaminants, with 70 percent of surface water in India rendered unfit for human consumption and at least 80 percent of the Indonesian population lacking access to piped water.

Worldwide, forever chemicals exist in rainwater, tap water, and groundwater in increasing quantities. Four thousand, five hundred of forever chemicals can be located in almost every dwelling on the planet through food packaging, non-stick cookware, rain gears. In Belgium, forever chemicals contaminated the soil around farm houses, with 4,500 families at risk of substances produced in Antwerp by 3M Company. From this, many humans living in today’s world must face the reality of drinking water with forever chemicals, either in North America, South America, Asia, Australasia, or Africa.

Drinking toxic forever chemicals, Credit, BioMed Central

The prevalence of facilities producing or using forever chemicals impacts on their spread globally. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found 120,000 suspected or known  locations of forever chemicals, with 4,700 using them for electroplating and polishing, more than 3,000 of them using them for petroleum stations and terminals, more than 2,300 chemical manufacturers creating them.

Experts suggest that 45,000 tons of a forever chemical PFAS got released into the global environment between 1970 and 2012, with 3M Company occupying a prominent position as a producer of PFOS and PFOA-related substances. Although 3M phased out production in 2002, PFOS pollution continues, due to the persistence of the chemicals.

The total quantity of sites potentially releasing forever chemicals numbers in the order of 100,000. Reports say many producers such as DuPont and Daikin knew about the dangers of a forever chemical compound used for food packaging since 2010, but they hid it from the public, so it isn’t surprising that 38 percent of samples collected from supermarkets and shops in six European countries treat their products with PFAS chemicals for oil repellency.

Impact of forever chemicals, Credit, News Medical

With businesses using PFAS chemicals for oil repellency, and others releasing about 45,000 tons of forever chemicals into the global environment, the prevalence of the problem grew across the planet, so that now, experts speculate that hundreds of millions of people across the world ingested forever chemicals through the water they drink and food they eat, creating negative impacts.

For example, middle-aged women with higher blood concentration of PFAS prove more likely to develop high blood pressure than their peers with lower levels of the substances. Women’s breast milk gets affected, as scientists found women  in the Faroe Island harboring high concentrations of forever chemicals within them, since the substances travel huge distances around the world through air and water.

Furthermore, the Inuit harbor a higher POP level in the blood than the general Canadian population, due to their diet consisting of walrus and narwhal, having lots of forever chemicals in them. Forever chemicals pass through the placenta into a developing fetus’ blood, thereby making unborn children and babies vulnerable to all sorts of illnesses. Birds become victims, since some of them in Belgium contain the highest concentration ever reported, having ingested it through chemicals from tap water, groundwater, and rainwater.

With drinking water worldwide affected, perhaps ordinary people should think about lessening the quantity of forever chemicals they ingest, so their unborn babies and children don’t become vulnerable to all sorts of challenges. Such a move could save or protect people from forever chemicals coming from huge distances, especially with some nations using 600 out of the 9,000 known PFAS compounds in countless products like firefighting foam, cookware, cosmetics, and others.

Avoidance could arrive through food people eat. Scientists found fluorine, a sign for the presence of PFAS, in 38 percent of sandwich and burger wrappers and 56 percent of bread and dessert wrappers in about 400 fast food containers around the United States. Nearly half of 24 large national chains and grocery stores package their products with at least one of them  having high PFAS levels of more than 100 parts per million. People who patronize microwave popcorn harbored 39 to 63 percent higher blood levels of five types of PFAS.

Credit, Washington Post

Conversely, every 100 calories of food eaten at home from non-restaurant sources contained decreasing concentration of all PFAS. Men and women who ate more home-cooked food got compensated through progressively dropping PFAS levels. For every 100 calories of non-restaurant food eaten athome, blood levels of five types of PFAS came 0.32 percent lower.

In other words, every non-restaurant food and drink consumed at home could make blood levels of five types of PFAS come out lower. They could enable decreasing concentrations of all PFAS in people. They could prevent the uncontrolled ingestion of fluorine, making the consumption of burger wrappers a thing of the past, and lessening proximity to bread and dessert wrappers. With groundwater, tap water, and rain water containing so much forever chemicals, home-made food and drinks could prove a way to lessen impact of the problem.

Why Home Cooked Food is the Best

Home-cooked food

How to avoid ‘forever chemicals’ in your dinner. Read this.

To reduce PFAS levels in food, cook at home. Read this.

Why you should eat home-cooked food. Read this.

Home-cooked meals linked to fewer harmful chemicals: Study. Read this.

What to eat

Love from Israel, Credit, Exceedingly Vegan