Order 1379296: Illnesses linked to toxic chemicals

Zaman Shirazi (زمان شیرازی)

Prof. Cordeiro (استاد کوردیرو)

Chemistry 002A (002A شیمی)

05 December 2018

Why Has the E.P.A. Shifted on Toxic Chemicals?

Based on the article written by Eric Lipton, the E.P.A. was struggling for the longest time to prevent perfluorooctanoic acid from contaminating our water. Perflurooctanoic Acid (PFOA), a chemical that is connected with birth defects like low infant birth weight as well harms the baby when it still in the womb, issues with the immune system, liver, thyroid, kidney, and other health issues. The problem came about when a top appointee from the President’s administration insisted upon rewriting a certain rule to make it difficult to track the health issues of PFOA, and therefore regulate it. E.P.A.’s new leader pressured scientists to revise a plan to ban certain uses of two dangerous chemicals that caused deaths and severe health issues: methlyne chloride (CH2Cl2) found in paint strippers as well in a pesticide and trichloroethylene (C2HCl3) which is found in dry cleaning as well removes grease from oil. It looks like the E.P.A only cares about profit for the company, but they need to reprioritize their values and polices to prevent health issues. The government should place pressure on these companies that is endangering others and should protect the people.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/us/trump-epa-chemicals-regulations.html

https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/chemicals-and-contaminants/perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa