In a world of an estimated 4700 PFAS chemicals, researching and setting an MCL for each one will be time consuming and expensive. The next step must be to stop doing chemical by chemical approach. It will become an impossible task. There is no time left to protect our health as the dangers are already present in our water supplies, communities and have contaminated our bodies.
I did not realize the health risks of products until I bought a mattress that arrived on Valentine’s Day in 2007. I have had underlying neurological health conditions caused by growing up near a Superfund site as a child. But nothing has impacted my health like the chemicals I was exposed to from sleeping on that mattress.
When legislators and government agencies make decisions, we request they consider my generation’s future and the potential of our lives, and those that will come after. A life riddled and intertwined with the threats of this heavy metal was not what our parents had in mind, yet it is what we face. We urge state and federal governments to protect us from these dangers and allow us to live our lives free of the effects of mercury and we call upon them to make decisions to ensure that our children are the first generation that is truly protected from mercury exposure.
Last year, we worked with the Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition to mobilize to phase out the practice of feeding healthy animals antibiotics. In the United States, approximately 70% of antibiotics human use are sold for use on animals. These drugs are often fed to animals that aren't sick in order to prevent disease. This routine use of antibiotics contributes to the breeding and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These bacteria can then travel off the farm and into our communities.