Staggering amounts of toxic “forever chemicals” have been found in freshwater fish, but there is no federal guidance on what is a safe amount to eat
Bill Eisenman has always fished.
“Growing up, we ate whatever we caught — catfish, carp, freshwater drum,” he said. “That was the only real source of fish in our diet as a family, and we ate a lot of it.”
Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north of Detroit. But in recent years, he has been wary about a group of chemicals known as PFAS, also referred to as “forever chemicals,” which don’t break down quickly in the environment and accumulate in soil, water, fish, and our bodies.
The chemicals have spewed from manufacturing plants and landfills into local ecosystems, polluting surface water and groundwater, and the wildlife living there. And hundreds of military bases have been pinpointed as sources of PFAS chemicals leaching into nearby communities.
There are flosses that don’t have PFAS, but they are a bit rarer and don’t “glide” like normal flosses as much. The PFAS make them glide. There are nonstick pans that don’t use PFAS, but they are a bit rarer and more expensive. In the end, I think it’s worth it.
It will be difficult to fully phase out, but we’ll do it. Rainjackets are gonna be difficult to do, and you’ll see some first-gen non-pfas ones in the coming years. They will probably repel rain for a light spray, but eventually give up the ghost under a heavy downpour. I think we might go back to rubber for heavy-duty rain slickers.