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Is this article ai generated? It sucks. Are the toxic products all PFAS products? It sure insinuates as much, but doesn't actually say that. There are lots and lots of "toxic" chemicals; there are over 10k PFAS compounds alone, and toxicity for those is being claimed at ppt levels, which is often lower than can be detected by test methods. Therefore, it's no wonder they'll take it slow, rather than eliminate large swaths of the economy without ready replacements.
Terrible article.
But think if the cost to the companies profits! And stock prices! Surely forever chemicals means it will work forever, thats a good thing right? My no stick pan will work forever, until it gets scratched and I throw it out and buy a new one.
One thing folks don't think about or understand is how critical PFAS polymers are for dairy, food, and pharma production. It is used extensively as there aren't many suitable alternatives for gaskets, valve seals, pipe lining, instrument coatings, hoses, etc. Alternative materials don't have the heat, chemical, or biological resistance to effectively work for all applications without introducing other toxic materials or inability to be cleaned and sanitized properly. Ban those materials and those industries will shut down in the EU unless consumer safety is compromised. Development of new materials will take years. We need to move away from PFAS, but it needs to be done in an orderly fashion.
Makes sense. Consumer products can be easily changed however.
The real issue is the byproducts of the industrial processes that use PFAS. Yes, we will need some time to develop new materials that have specific properties, but we need to start addressing how we use these chemicals and dispose of the industrial waste.
Consumer products aren't the source of the problem. It's industrial management at the factory.... Fix that instead of making every day live shittier for regular people
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The EU has abandoned a promise to ban all but the most vital of toxic chemicals used in everyday consumer products, leaked documents show.
PFAS – also known as forever chemicals – accumulate in nature and in our bodies where they can damage the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems.
The planned ban would have taken thousands of the most hazardous products off the market but it is now unclear whether the proposals will be mothballed or buried.
An EU official declined to comment on the leaked documents but said: “It’s no surprise that the Reach revision doesn’t feature in the work programme.
An earlier leak of the EU’s chemicals plans reported by the Guardian in July showed the scope of the bloc’s ambition had been weakened in the face of intense industry pressure, which was backed by EU political leaders including the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
The Green MEP Bas Eickhout said: “It’s very clear that there’s not enough appetite with this commission to have a proper revision of the Reach regulation, so let’s make it a campaign issue in the June 2024 elections.
The original article contains 569 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
There are quite a few usages of PFAS type materials that are extremely important. That said, using that material for applications where it comes in contact with food is a terrible idea unless it's completely isolated. Also the application should be such that the material is properly disposed.