Read the full article by Maia Siegel (The Lever)
“I grew up walking the boardwalk in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, peering into the froth of the Cape Fear River. The name came from 16th-century mariners who feared its mouth, which was known to churn ships into wrecks. But for the last few decades, there has been something new to fear in the river.
The Cape Fear River was tainted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the Wilmington Star-News reported in 2017, a group of synthetic compounds now commonly known as ‘forever chemicals.’
As their name suggests, forever chemicals are renowned for their persistence. One of the strongest bonds in chemistry, carbon and fluorine, gives PFAS their nonstick properties. A seemingly endless list of products — dental floss, tampons, cellphones, wall paint, yoga pants, carpets, contact lenses, hair-straightening treatments, toilet paper — rely on those bonds to smooth, harden, slicken, and withstand heat and wear. But that chemical strength also means that PFAS don’t break down in the environment. They accumulate over time, contaminating our soil, produce, fish, and drinking water — and eventually finding their way into us.
These forever chemicals were flowing into the river from a production facility in Bladen County, North Carolina, operated by Chemours, a chemical company that manufactures Teflon, the coating used in nonstick cookware. When the news broke, I was 15 years old and had been drinking the city’s tap water all my life. Nearly all of Wilmington had: The Cape Fear, the state’s largest river, supplies 80 percent of the city’s drinking water. The water was clear, and it tasted fine — but that didn’t mean it was clean. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has linked PFAS chemicals to a host of severe health issues, including increased risk of prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers, as well as decreased fertility, reduced ability to fight infections, and developmental delays in children.”…