Judson Brown: Presidential debate should address ‘forever chemicals’

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Published: 09-04-2024 4:04 PM

If I had the opportunity to question the candidates for president during their debate, the first question I’d ask is what are you going to do about PFAS chemicals, otherwise known as “forever chemicals.”

It seems that every day lately we are reading stories about the devastating health affects of these long-lasting and all but indestructible chemical compounds, all based on the incredibly strong bond between fluorine and carbon.

Their chief commercial benefit seems to be their resistance to water and grease.

These compounds are used in vast array of products, from fire suppressant foams — such as the chemicals that recently escaped from an industrial park in Brunswick, Maine, and scattered in toxic foamy clouds through the seaside marshes where folks from Northampton have their lovely vacation homes — to rain gear and dental floss and carpets, etc.

They have innumerable well-documented negative affects on human health. The New York Times ran an investigative piece on how PFAS-infused sludge from treatment plants widely used as a fertilizer on farms has contaminated feed and therefore livestock, and is posing a serious national threat to our agriculture.

It would be interesting to know if the candidates are aware of this problem, can define PFAS, and have any idea what to do about it, as it seems to be presenting an imminent threat to the health and welfare of the citizens of the U.S.

Kamala Harris could explain how the EPA has missed the boat on this crisis, and since Donald Trump specializes in name-calling, let’s see if he can name this one.

Judson Brown

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