Rainwater that falls all over Earth has ‘cancer-causing chemicals’, study finds
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Even fresh rainwater is now “unsafe to drink” because of hazardous man-made chemicals that are known to cause a range of problems including cancer, infertility, and learning and behavioural problems in children.
Researchers from Stockholm University and ETH Zurich University have measured the levels of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS] and say they are present in dangerously-high concentrations even in the remotest parts of the world.
PFAS are used to keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes and carpets stain-resistant, and create firefighting foam that is more effective.
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While 3M, one of the major manufacturers of PFAS, recognised the dangers and stopped producing the chemicals almost 20 years ago, they are still present in almost every drop of water on Earth.
PFAS are described as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment.
One of the chemicals in the group, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), is closely associated with the development of cancers.
“Based on the latest US guidelines for PFOA in drinking water,” says Ian Cousins, the lead author of the study and professor at the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University. “Rainwater everywhere would be judged unsafe to drink.“
“Although in the industrial world we don’t often drink rainwater, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and it supplies many of our drinking water sources,” he added.
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The shocking study was published in scientific journal published in Environmental Science & Technology.
Professor Martin Scheringer, a co-author of the study, said the problem was world-wide.
He explained: “Now, due to the global spread of PFAS, environmental media everywhere will exceed environmental quality guidelines designed to protect human health and we can do very little to reduce the PFAS contamination.
“In other words,” he added, “it makes sense to define a planetary boundary specifically for PFAS and, as we conclude in the paper, this boundary has now been exceeded."
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Dr Jane Muncke, Managing Director of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zürich, Switzerland, and not involved in the work, told Eureka Alert: “It cannot be that some few benefit economically while polluting the drinking water for millions of others, and causing serious health problems.
“The vast amounts that it will cost to reduce PFAS in drinking water to levels that are safe based on current scientific understanding need to be paid by the industry producing and using these toxic chemicals.
"The time to act is now.”
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