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iisd_ela OP t1_j63w3m7 wrote

Forever chemicals are a very real and serious problem.
For example, there are recent news reports about high levels of chemicals referred to as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in fish across the United States (and likely across Canada too) that are very concerning, especially those who consume freshwater fish.
For the immediate future, the public needs to know about this issue and be provided guidance (e.g., fish consumption advisories) for the level of risk associated with eating fish from different geographic areas. For Canada, this means we need much better data on the level of these PFAS chemicals in fish from lakes and rivers across the country, especially in areas where local communities rely on fishing as part of their culture or livelihood.
However, this is not enough. These results indicate much more effort needs to go into reducing the input of these chemicals into our lakes and rivers. This will likely require much stricter regulation of the use of such chemicals in thousands of products (from cell phones to non-stick frying pans, from cosmetics to fast-food wrappers).

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