Read the full article by Rachel Frazin (The Hill)
“Sandy Wynn-Stelt had thought her Michigan home was across the street from a Christmas tree farm, but she said in a lawsuit settled earlier this year that it was actually a toxic dump that contaminated her water.
In 2017, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality came to Wynn-Stelt’s house to test her water, a test she believed at the time to be random. The test, however, turned up high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they tend to linger in the environment and human bodies instead of breaking down.
The class of chemicals, of which there are thousands, have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, as well as thyroid disease.
When Wynn-Stelt was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year, she said she had already known she had high levels of PFAS in her blood.
‘Was I surprised in the moment? Yes. Was I surprised overall that I developed cancer from drinking Scotchgard from the tap, no,’ she said, referencing the name of a stain-repellant product made with PFAS.
However, at least Wynn-Stelt was able to get testing and stopped drinking the contaminated water. She fears that other people may be in a similar situation and not even know it.
‘I’d still be drinking Scotchgard from the tap if somebody hadn’t tested,’ Wynn-Stelt told The Hill in an interview.
‘I’m afraid there’s more places like us that have these places where industry dumped … and people are still drinking contaminated water with absolutely no idea of it,’ she added.
Research shows that people all around the country are being impacted by PFAS contamination and may not even know it.” …