PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals” are chemicals that have been linked to cancer and numerous other health problems including thyroid issues, reproductive and developmental issues, and high cholesterol. Forever chemicals are called such because they never break down in the environment.

So why are DuPont and other similar companies still discharging these chemicals from their facilities?

In 2001, it came became well known that a type of PFAS called PFOA, which is used to make Teflon, contaminated the drinking water of 70,000 people near a DuPont factory in West Virginia. Several lawsuits and lots of pressure from the EPA later, DuPont and other companies pledged to phase out PFOA and stop usage after 2015.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Earlier this month, California representative Harley Rouda, sent a letter to DuPont and Chemours questioning why PFAS were still being discharged at their factories. Despite the known toxicity, there are no federal enforcements on PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, or soils, and only five states have regulations on PFAS. There are also no requirements to clean up PFAS under the Federal Superfund Law.

The continued releases could be an indication that the two companies are still using PFOA, despite their assurances otherwise. If so, that would be a serious breach of public trust. But there are other possible explanations for these discharges. There could be PFOA in products or mixtures used at the facilities. Or “legacy” PFOA remaining in water used at the facilities could be showing up – an alarming reminder of the chemical’s persistence in the environment.

Both companies have publicly said they no longer use PFOA, yet, the EPA’s history shows ongoing discharge from two different facilities. One site in Parkersburg reported 323.5 pounds of PFOA released in 2019.

Forever chemicals produced by companies like DuPont and 3M have been contaminating our earth for decades. Information released has shown that these companies knew the dangers of these chemicals as early as the 1950s. If you have any interest in learning more about forever chemicals, I highly recommend the Mark Ruffalo film “Dark Waters”. Dark Waters follows the true story of a corporate defense attorney who took on an environmental lawsuit against DuPont, exposing the decades of pollution.

Health experts have warned about the possibility of what they refer to as a “Twindemic” with the flu season quickly approaching. In an effort to avoid a strenuous flu season, the Trump administration issued a declaration to authorize pharmacists nationwide to administer the flu shot to children three and older. The CDC recommends that everyone get their flu shot by the end of October. For reference, nearly 36% of the nation’s children (or roughly 25,000,000 children) did not get the flu shot in last year’s flu season. An estimated 434 children died from the flu last season.

“Today’s action means easier access to lifesaving vaccines for our children, as we seek to ensure immunization rates remain high during the COVID-19 pandemic,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a press release.

Despite the Trump administration’s new policy, many pharmacies still won’t vaccinate children against flu

According to CNN, it looks like the new policy by the Trump administration did not land well amongst pharmacies across the country. The majority of pharmacies around the country are still refusing to vaccinate children that young. Additionally, many pharmacies were unaware of the push by the Trump administration to get more children vaccinated against the flu.

Previously, 20 states allowed pharmacists to vaccinate children three and up without a prescription. In the remaining 30 states that did not vaccinate children in pharmacies, CNN called 176 pharmacies across the country to ask if they would now begin vaccinating children. Only 31 out of 176 pharmacies said they would vaccinate a three-year-old without a prescription. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has pushed for pharmacists to be able to vaccinate children for years and are in support of the new push by the Trump administration. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not object to pharmacists administering the flu vaccine to children but does not support the Health and Human Services declaration to allow pharmacists to give all childhood vaccines.

While many pharmacies are saying they will not vaccinate children, many officials are upset with the way the Trump administration rolled out the new declaration, saying that it was not promoted well enough, or talked about enough.

“You can have the best policy in place, but there are many steps you have to take to implement that policy. There has to be a large, concerted effort,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore city health commissioner.

Despite the Trump administration’s new policy, many pharmacies still won’t vaccinate children against flu

Mainstream news sources will fail to acknowledge why pharmacists around the country will not be vaccinating young children, but the reality is that the risk is too great and the reward is too low. Why else would pharmacies refuse to vaccinate children? If vaccines are truly completely safe with no risk of negative side effects, and pharmacists are already able to vaccine adults against the flu- then why not just let them vaccinate children? Most people would argue that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks when it comes to vaccines, that being said, it looks like many pharmacies around the country are unwilling to take that risk.

While pharmacies around the country are trying to decide rather or not they will vaccinate young children for the flu, Singapore has halted the use of two of its flu vaccines after 48 people died in South Korea after receiving the flu vaccine. Health officials later reported no connection between the deaths and the flu vaccine, and are still urging people to get vaccinated. You can read more about that in this article.

Last year the flu vaccine was only 29% effective. This year, albeit better than last year, the flu vaccine is only 45% effective. Kind of… this year’s flu vaccine is 45% effective at preventing “influenza-associated medically attended acute respiratory illness”. This essentially means that this year’s flu vaccines 45% effective at preventing flu-like illness severe enough to warrant a trip to the doctor or hospital. It’s still too early to tell what the impact of this year’s flu season will have on the population, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A new study compared the carbon emissions of nuclear power versus renewable energy and finds that renewables resulted in a more serious reduction of national carbon emissions. Scientists analyzed data from 123 countries from the years of 1999 to 2014. Not only did nuclear power not show a significant reduction in carbon emissions, it even showed increases in carbon emissions in some developing countries.

The evidence clearly points to nuclear being the least effective of the two broad carbon emissions abatement strategies, and coupled with its tendency not to co-exist well with its renewable alternative, this raises serious doubts about the wisdom of prioritising investment in nuclear over renewable energy…”

Benjamin Sovacool, a professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex

Nuclear power has been sold as a solid, more environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, and there have been advances in nuclear technology since 2014, the last year that this study was examined. In addition to that, many of the nuclear plants analyzed were older and needed more energy to be maintained. Even with those caveats, it’s clear that nuclear power won’t benefit the environment the way a strategy consisting of renewable energies like wind and solar would.

Human beings like to chew on things. Multiple ancient societies had chewing gum in some form, from the Mayans with chicle to the Ancient Greeks with Mastic resin. The modern candy aisle has significant shelf space dedicated to chewing gum. However, the sweet and minty treats familiar to people today bear little resemblance to the gum of old, and ingredients in this modern chewing gum should give you pause.

Conventional gums have sweeteners like corn syrup, sugar alcohols (such as xylitol), aspartame, and other ingredients like glycerine (to maintain moistness) and natural and/or artificial flavorings. Many of these ingredients have been shown to have negative effects on human health.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Most of these ingredients are problematic, but at least they are clearly listed on labels, unlike gum base which is listed as a single ingredient even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categorizes 46 different chemicals as gum base. Gum base provides the structure for the gum and makes up the largest percentage of the gum, although the actual amount of gum base varies based on what kind of gum it is. Bubble gum consists of 15–20% gum base. Chewing gum consists of 20–25% gum base, and sugar-free chewing gum contains 25–30% gum base.

What it is in the gum base specifically is considered a trade secret, but typical ingredients include;

• natural coagulated or concentrated latices of vegetable origin (resins like chicle, beeswax, and natural rubbers like latex)
• synthetic coagulated or concentrated latices (paraffins; petroleum wax; and polymers like butadiene-styrene, vinyl acetate, and polyethylene)
• softeners and plasticizers (lecithins; hydrogenated vegetable oils; lanolin, glycerol, methyl, and pentaerythritol esters; sodium and potassium stearates)
• terpene resins
• antioxidants (usually BHT)

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Gum base also includes fillers like calcium carbonate or talc. Another chewing gum ingredient to watch out for is polyvinyl acetate, a plastic substance which causes tumors in rats, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Many consider chewing gum a harmless pastime but imagine the harmful effects of each of these ingredients. Now add them all together…not pleasant. Yet another reason to never swallow your gum.

Many people use cannabis for pain management, but a new study finds that people who used cannabis before surgery needed more anesthesia during surgery and experienced increased recovery pain.

There is some evidence that cannabis may be beneficial for chronic and nerve pain. However, early research suggests that this is not the case for acute pain such as for surgery of a broken leg…This study shows that it is important for patients to tell their physician anesthesiologist if they have used cannabis products prior to surgery to ensure they receive the best anesthesia and pain control possible, including the use of non-opioid alternatives…”

Dr. Ian Holmen, lead author and anesthesiology resident at the University of Colorado Hospital

Presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the study examined the painkiller needs of people who had used cannabis in some form and those who had not after surgery for a broken leg. People who reported cannabis use were given 58% more opioids per day in the hospital and reported greater levels of pain on a scale of 1 to 10. During the surgery, cannabis users needed 12.4 more milliliters of anesthesia during surgery.

Related: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

More than three million sharks are killed every year for their livers. Shark squalene, an oil derived from the shark’s liver, is commonly used as an adjuvant in vaccines. In order to supply enough squalene to vaccinate everyone against COVID-19, it’s estimated that half a million sharks would have to be killed, in order to meet the demand. Currently, five COVID-19 vaccine candidates use squalene as an adjuvant in their vaccine. Due to the already present demand for shark squalene, the increase in demand could bring some shark species to the brink of extinction. The adjuvant is also used in flu vaccines.

Adjuvants are used in vaccines to trigger your body’s immune response to the vaccine. They can often cause adverse reactions within vaccinees. Squalene has been linked to several potential health problems, like autoimmune issues, Rheumatoid arthritis, and narcolepsy.

Despite the mainstream narrative that the vaccine will save us from devastation, nothing could be further from the truth. The purpose of a vaccine is to catalyze your immune system to produce a protective response. The problem with the Warp Speed produced vaccine, with virtually all the safety stops removed, is that the risks far outweigh any benefits.

A Half-Million Sharks To Be Killed for COVID-19 Vaccine

The safety of a COVID-19 vaccine that has been produced this rapidly has been the concern of many people. Due to testing and trials, vaccines can take years, and sometimes more than a decade to develop.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Earlier this month the CDC drafted an order requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks while on public transportation. The order would have required masks on all airplanes, buses, trains, and subways as well as transit hubs like airports and train stations. This action was the toughest federal mandate to date.

Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

The action was blocked by the White House, said two federal health officials. The coronavirus is still infecting more than 40,000 people every day. The motion had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar, but Vice President Mike Pence reportedly refused to discuss it. Mike Pence heads the coronavirus task force. Taskforce officials have said that the choice to require masks should be left up to each individual state.

Political appointees at the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services have also been involved in rewriting the agency’s guidelines on reopening schools and testing for the virus, bypassing the agency’s scientists.

White House Blocked C.D.C. From Mandating Masks on Public Transit

This is only the latest action by the CDC to be blocked by the White House. At the end of last month, the coronavirus task force blocked another order by the CDC to keep cruise ships docked until February. This was opposed by Florida’s tourism industry. Florida is an important swing state in the upcoming election.

Related: Coronavirus Supplement Review