Penguin 'Toxicologists' Find PFAS Chemicals in Remote Patagonia(www.ucdavis.edu)

40 pointsby giuliomagnifico6 hours ago2 comments

giuliomagnifico6 hours ago
They fitted some penguins with chemical-sensing silicone passive samplers.
alex435783 hours ago
Is this going to be like the micro-plastics-are-actually-contamination-from-lab-gloves news all over again?
I'm all for removing PFAS and similar chemicals from the many places and uses they aren't needed, but if people don't care about PFAS in their tap water, they certainly aren't going to care about penguin PFAS.
- hvb23 hours ago
  > if people don't care about PFAS in their tap water
  People don't? Sounds to me like they need to look at history a bit more.
  To me, this looks very much like some of the other magical materials...
  Lead in gasoline, asbestos as building material, tobacco etc
  - Zigurd4 minutes ago
    Future archaeologists are going to chronicle humankind's stupidity by the lead layer, the atom bomb testing fallout layer, the PFAS layer, etc. All of these were made possible by a misplaced sense of scale. Yes we can poison the whole planet. That little blue dot.
  - alex43578an hour ago
    Most people don't care. PFAS is only voluntarily being phased out in food packaging, rather than being banned. People cook with teflon-coated pans for the tiny convenience over a nitrided, ceramic, or seasoned cast iron pan. Outdoors enthusiasts want PFAS rain jackets and PFAS ski waxes, rather than the alternatives.
    I definitely agree they need to look at history, consider what they're being exposed to, and understand how simple and easy some of the substitutions/mitigations could be. There's 0 reason why manufacturers are getting 5+ years to phase out a forever chemical in something like ski wax or dental floss.
    adriandan hour ago
    I don't think it's that people don't care, I think it's that people are ignorant. I also don't think that's an accident, I think we're in the midst of a multi-decade project to create a populace that's as dumb as possible, because the more aware and educated people are, the less likely they are to allow the kinds of behaviour that are destroying the health of people, animals and the environment.
    The ideal societal conditions for, say, a petrochemical company that is creating toxins that are genuinely "forever" for all intents and purposes, is a society where people are exhausted from their terrible job (or two jobs, or job + gig economy side hustle) and spend their leisure time glued to their phones, scrolling AI slop on instagram and gambling away their meagre savings on sports betting and prediction markets.
    These are not people who are going to get educated about chemistry.
    Scientific expertise is derided as elitism. The president lies constantly by issuing "truths" on his social media platform. Public education gets defunded and IQ scores are declining. Either this is just random societal decay, or this is serving the interests of the rich and powerful. I know where I stand on it. And yes, I'm cranky.
- progbits2 hours ago
  No, they-are-not-actually-contamination. Some studies might have inaccurate numbers due to contamination. That's all.
  Important to correct for, but doesn't invalidate the whole microplastics concern.
- giuliomagnifico3 hours ago
  Yes, it could be (I posted the article about the gloves), but PFAS are different from microplastics, and not all the studies are contaminated by gloves.
  The interesting part here is using the animals as “scientists” to collect samples in their habitats for years (2022-2024) instead of sending humans to collect samples. This is far more reliable in my opinion
  - alex43578an hour ago
    The animal angle is fun and interesting, and my quip about the gloves is mostly a joke. My frustration comes from the fact that we don't (or shouldn't) need to know that PFAS is in Patagonia to care about it.
    45% of US households contain PFAS, apparently, but no mitigation or even manufacturing bans are required for years.
    In the US, one side cries about regular flouride in the water, but is meh to PFAS. Meanwhile, the other side is supposedly pro-environment, but can't even get the fortitude to ban PFAS ski wax.
- nslsm3 hours ago
  Trust the science.