Wtf are you supposed to do about it if you are not “oblivious”?
The vast majority of PFAS contamination comes from industrial effluent, not consumer goods. This should be a good thing, because it makes it logistically easier to prevent and mitigate. Unfortunately, manufacturers can get away with flagrant negligence because the EPA is a total mess.
The EPA are failing to deal with dozens of types of chemical pollution that most people are already well aware of; the only meaningful solution is to reform or replace the EPA. That's unlikely to happen soon, partly because of longstanding structural issues with federal agencies and partly because "not wanting to be poisoned" is now a politically contentious position.
Step 1: Get Trump and his ilk to make moves toward disbanding the EPA.
There is no step 2. Democrat voters now throw their support to the EPA, forgetting all the stories about its dysfunction, because the threatened alternative is no EPA at all.
"The lesser evil" will be the rally cry as smart, kind people beg you to vote for the corporate-funded Democrat who wants to "preserve" the EPA and its funding as is.
> "not wanting to be poisoned" is now a politically contentious position.
Has been for a long time - ask Erin Brockovich, or the Superfund victims, or Donziger.
But mostly despair, considering the current state of affairs.
Avoid buying them where possible to reduce your exposure. I.e don’t buy the dental floss that is literally strands of Teflon.
Give blood. Not only is it a good deed, it reduces the amounts of these chemicals.
Contact your reps and vote with the need for actual regulation in mind.
How the average American, with the worst consumer protection laws and a terrible food culture, is supposed to find a way?
Surely there's some hyperbole there. For example, the US doesn't have a problem with lead chromate in their turmeric.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/08/six-brands-of-turmeri...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5415259/
What changed?
Exceptions don't disprove rules.
Exceptions don't disprove rules.
So a single counterexample suffices.
Forever chemicals, like PFAs can end up in food, but it is not made to be in food. The nature of this pollution means that trying to prevent environmental pollution to end up in your food is a fool's errand. The solution is to avoid releasing more of the substance in the environment.
For instance, PFAs see a lot of use in water-repellent clothing and material. As these products take rain, some of the repellent is shed in the environment, and contaminate stuff we consume. Awareness about it in the population and people looking to buy something else can lead manufacturers to look for alternatives and develop new lines of clothing.