This is an action that is no longer safe for health. Credit: iStock.
It doesn’t work anymore, apparently. The one of open your mouth with your face turned to the sky on a rainy day and let the drops fall on the tongue and slide down the throat. Something that is very common for children.
Even if only this were the consequence, there would be no major problems. It would be sad but nothing more. The point is that the thing It is much more serious than that. Because rain provides many of our sources of drinking water.
It so happens that according to a new study rainwater is no longer drinkable. The reason is that they found that it contains “chemicals forever” (PFAS, for its acronym in English) that can cause cancer.
The study, conducted by the researchers of the Stockholm UniversitySweden e ETH Zurich, found traces of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known as “forever chemicals” in rainwater.
PFAS are man-made chemicals found in the 1940s linked to hormonal disorder, cancerreproductive problems and fetal development problems.
This is an action that is no longer safe for your health. Credit: iStock.
“According to the latest US guidelines for PFOA in drinking water, rainwater should be considered everywhere not safe to drink“, condemned the professor of the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Stockholm and lead author of the study, Ian Cousins.
“Although we don’t drink rainwater often in the industrialized world, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and provides many of our sources of drinking water”Added the teacher.
Even the cousins have warned him PFAS are found in the snoweven in the “remotest parts of the world”.
According to the study, which was published in the journal Environmental sciences and technologies, despite being phased out by major manufacturers, it is still prominent in the atmosphere, so we all have to be careful when it decreases.
Where are PFAS used?
Forever chemicals are generally represented by chemicals from the PFAS group, which are chemicals of highly effective coating used in a wide variety of consumer products.
The teflon is probably one of the best known applications, but PFAS are also used in stain resistant clothing, food packaging and fire fighting foams, among others.
These chemicals have been dubbed “forever” because of them high persistencewhich means they do not degrade in the environment for a long time.
Instead, build up slowly in higher concentrations and are transported over long distances, often by water, even to the most remote regions.
Source: Clarin
