Study: Asian Americans more vulnerable to "forever" chemicals

Asian Americans have significantly higher exposure than other ethnic or racial groups to PFAS, a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals also known as “toxic forever” chemicals, Mount Sinai-led researchers report.

Scientists have linked exposure to these long-lasting compounds to many illnesses, including thyroid disease, kidney cancer and testicular cancer.

 in everyday life, and these exposures carry potentially adverse health impacts, according to the study published Thursday in Environmental Science and Technology, in the special issue “Data Science for Advancing Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology.”

“We found that if we used a customized burden scoring approach, we could uncoverlead author Shelley Liu, an associate professor of population health science at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, said in a statement.

“These disparities are hidden if we use a one-size-fits-all approach to quantifying everyone’s exposure burden. In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metric used are fair and informative for all people.”

PFAS pollution is a major health concern, and nearly all Americans have detectable levels of PFAS chemicals in their blood. PFAS are hard to avoid. They are found in products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. 

 

The scientists estimated a person’s total exposure burden to PFAS and accounted for the exposure heterogeneity (for example, different diets and behaviors) of different groups of people that could expose them to different sets of PFAS. They found that Asian Americans had a significantly high PFAS exposure than all other US ethnic or racial groups, and that the median exposure score for Asian Americans was 89% higher than for non-Hispanic whites.

PFAS are hard to avoid. They are found in many types of outdoor clothing, camping gear, coated papers for fast-food takeout, firefighting foams and nonstick cookware. Most recently,PFAs were found in toilet paper, dental floss, semiconductors and solar panels.

This is the first time that researchers accounted for complex exposure sources of different groups of people to calculate a person’s exposure burden to PFAS.

This research suggests that biomonitoring and risk assessment should consider an exposure metric that takes into consideration the fact that different groups of people are exposed to many different sources and patterns of PFAS. Based on these findings, these researches believe that exposure sources, such as dietary sources and occupational exposure, may underlie the disparities in exposure burden.

The Biden administration has allocated $9 billion to PFAS clean-up, and in March 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first enforceable federal standards to regulate PFAS contamination in public drinking water.

The study didn't identify specific reasons as to why Asian Americans might have greater PFA exbosure in comparison to other ethnic and racial groups, researchers stressed that this is a topic to needs to be explored further.

In the future, the researchers plan to incorporate toxicity information on each PFAS chemical into exposure burden scoring, to further evaluate disparities in toxicity-informed exposure burden in vulnerable groups and population subgroups.

“In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metrics used are fair and informative for all people,” Liu said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Hundreds of thousands climate marchers take to the streets

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This is what you see if you go to the EPA's climate change page.

SO THIS is what democracy looks like! We resist! We build! We rise!

While hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to take part in the People's Climate March, the Trump administration took down the Environmental Protection Agency's webpage on climate change. It is being updated to reflect the views of the new administration.

In the sweltering heat of Washington DC where some estimates put the demonstration at 200,000, in the driving snow of Denver, in the pounding rain of Chicago, to the tropical climes of Hawaii, unpaid people raised their concern that the current leadership is not convinced that 95 percent of climate scientists are right when they say man is accelerating the changing climate conditions around te planet - from the massive record-breaking storms and extreme drought to the melting snowcaps.

Trump has said he thought the climate change debate was a hoax perpetuated by China. He appointed Scott Pruitt, a climate-change denier, to head up the EPA, an agency that he despises and sued a dozen times as the Oklahoma attorney general.

Some of the marchers tried to connect to the EPA website on climate change after the administration's actions were made Friday.

“As EPA renews its commitment to human health and clean air, land and water, our website needs to reflect the views of the leadership of the agency,” JP Freire, an associate administrator for public affairs, told the Guardian.

Previously, the website housed data on greenhouse gas emissions from large polluters and reports on the effects of climate change and its impact on human health.

“We want to eliminate confusion,” Freire said, “by removing outdated language first and making room to discuss how we’re protecting the environment and human health by partnering with states and working within the law.”

Climate change information gathered by previous administrations can still be accessed through some links.

Also on Friday, Trump opened up the Alaskan tundra and the ocean floor off the Eastern Seaboard for drilling.

In Washington DC, marchers surrounded the White House and for a few minutes, imitated the sound of their heart by tapping on their chests. Trump was reportedly still in side the residence. They marched to the rallying point at the Washington Monument.

Besides Washington DC, there were over 300 marches held around the world.

Around the world, people marched to bring attention to the need to address climate change.

PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MARCH

Marchers in Los Angeles

PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MARCH

Marchers in Hawaii protested the actions of the Trump administration on the environment.

For more photos, videos and articles from Saturday's People's Climate March, click here.

Drink some water and use Sunday to rest – because on Monday we need to show up for workers and immigrants walking out into the street on May Day, say organizers of the People's Climate March. 

There are lots of organizations hosting actions near you, including Beyond the Moment and Reform Immigration for America. Check them out.

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March for Science: Earth Day will be different this year

MARCH FOR SCIENCE

If a rally for science held in Boston in Feb. is an example, we can expect a plethora of creative of the signs during the March for Science next Saturday.

ON THE FIRST DAY of Donald Trump's presidency, the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Science and Technology Policy's website no longer lists “science” in the paragraph describing what it does.

With all the ballyhoo about the numbers who attended the inauguration and the historic Women's March the next day, it ALMOST went unnoticed.

Scientists and environmentalists saw it. In fact, it set off alarm bells. That's what inspired the organizing of the March For Science.

Earth Day, this Saturday (April 22) has taken a new - more urgent - meaning this year beyond cleaning up beaches and parks. Science-friendly individuals will gather on the National Mall, and in hundreds of satellite marches across the U.S. and around the globe. The Earth Day Network — the nonprofit that organizes Earth Day events every year — has taken the lead on programming for the march.

COURTESY OF AMADO GULOY

Amado Guloy, organizing the San Francisco Bay Area's
March for Science, gave a TED talk.

"On some level, [science] is already politicized with certain acts done by Congress, like increased oversight over what kinds of science we should be able to practice and pursue [using federal funds]," said Amado Guloy, a materials and inorganic chemist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Guloy, a Filipino/American is spending all his spare time organizing the March for Science in San Francisco. His tech startup Rex uses technology to help veterinarians keep digital records as they provide clinical care at farms.

The March for Science will celebrate the scientific method and advocate for evidence-based decision-making in all levels of government. Though the event’s website doesn’t explicitly mention Trump, it’s a protest of his administration’s policies, including his proposal to cut billions in funding for scientific research.


The March for Science shouldn't be confused with the People's Climate March, which will be held the following weekend and whose emphasis will be on ... well, climate change. 

IT'S TOO LATE TO KEEP SCIENCE APOLITICAL

Organizers have tried to steer away from the appearance of being anti-Trump. Its website cites: "Anti-science agendas and policies have been advanced by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and they harm everyone — without exception."

"What we’re trying to do (with the March for Science ) is say, OK, the narrative of science has been politicized and nitpicked. Let’s go back to ..., ‘This is what the scientific method is and this is why it should not be nitpicked,’ so if you are going to make a narrative with data, it’s done in a scientific manner,'" said Guloy in an interview in The Scientist Magazine.

At any rate, like it or not, science has already been politicized. The Trump administration and the Republican majority in Congress are defunding research, politicizing grant making  diminishing science’s role in the agency rule making process, and flat out refusing to accept conclusions they don’t like.

Since Donald Trump became president, numerous climate change deniers have been confirmed to lead key scientific cabinets. What's more, the administration has cracked down on federal agencies' use of social media and access to reporters, demanded that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submit research for political vetting before publishing, and deleted or hidden what were once public records from government websites.

RELATED: Every anti-science thing Trump has done in his administration's first 100 days

These efforts to discredit science have sparked a growing and historic resistance movement, from rogue Twitter accounts to scientists racing to archive climate change and other threatened data from government servers.

Trump's administration is planning a 17 percent cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency tasked with monitoring oceans, preparing for potentially dangerous storms and assessing the dangers of climate change, according to a leaked memo obtained by the Washington Post.

Of all the government agencies set for cuts, the EPA would be the most severely gashed. If Congress were to enact Trump's budget proposal for the fiscal year 2017-2018, the EPA would lose $2.6 billion out of its current $8.1 billion in funding — a 32.1 percent slash to the agency that would pay for 5 percent of the boost to the Department of Defense.

Trump has yet to name a top White House science adviser, and it’s unclear if he ever will. A man who doesn't believe in climate change, Scott Pruitt, has been named head of the EPA, an agency that he's sued nine times as the former Attorney General of Oklahoma.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist at the University of Washington, told the Washington Post that science has always been influenced by politics.

She cited the example of Albert Einstein, who, in addition to illuminating the fundamental laws of physics, advocated for civil rights, socialism, and nuclear arms control. His politics made him a target of the FBI, which tracked his phone calls and went through his trash until his death in 1955.

“Those are the same scientists we are taught to look up to as science students,” she said of Einstein and other physicists who advocated for arms control. “They very much understood that physics had a role to play in the unfolding of highly polarized political events.”

The fact that she is only the 63rd African/American woman in American history to get a PhD in physics — a degree that has been awarded to tens of thousands of researchers. That's no accident, she said.

STRUGGLING WITH DIVERSITY

Her statement brings up one of the key issues that developed during the planning of this march was the issue of diversity. It got so muddled the organizers issued four different statements that still didn't satisfy everyone. The lack of women and people of color in the research labs is something that needs to be discussed further. 

"We cannot ignore issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, or any other form of discrimination in the discussion and implementation of science," says the website. "Nor can we ignore the ways in which science has been misused to harm marginalized communities. The lack of inclusivity and diversity in STEM thwarts scientific advancements not only by limiting who conducts the research, but also by influencing what topics are studied, who participates in the research, and who will benefit from or be harmed by it."
The march is open to everyone who believes in facts, the value of research. scientific vetting and the value of facts ... and against the policies that seek to belittle those tenets.

Guloy, the San Francisco scientist and entrepreneur, said that he hopes the march is not a one-and-done event. The issues raised by the march will continue to be worked on in the months and years ahead.

Theorems are basic to science but there comes a time when practical matters can supersede theory. The days when scientists and researchers stay hunkered down in their labs separate from the rest of society are over. Politics has punctured that wall. From the vaccines that protect billions of lives to the ubiquitous smart phone, there can be no doubt that society has benefited from science. But science, too, can benefit from joining the public square with the rest of us. That's why scientists need to march. That's why we need to join them. 

FOOTNOTE: During a Rally for Science held in Boston last Feb. participants made some creatively appropriate signs, some of which are shown below.. Organizers are encouraging participants to do the same in the March for Science.

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AAPI environmentalists invite you to join the Peoples Climate March, April 29

The Trump Administration's position towards climate change.

DID YOU MISS the Tax Day March last weekend when tens of thousands of people marched in the nation's cities, suburbs and small towns demanding that Donald Trump make his tax returns public?

There are more marches ahead. Join them!

With Donald Trump's first 100 days occupying the White House fast approaching, the American people are not giving in to his proposed policies. 

In response to the Trump administration’s latest executive order that begins to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and environmental protections, the Peoples Climate Movement (PCM) is planned on April 29 on the 100th day since he took office.

Rhea Suh

(A few days later, International Workers' Day on May 1, demonstrations, rallies and marches  will draws hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world protesting the Trump policies that harm workers and benefit the people at the top who are already rich.)

“The Clean Power Plan is the strongest measure we’ve taken to protect future generations from the growing dangers of climate change," explained Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.  

"It would cut the climate-disrupting fossil fuel pollution from the power plants that account for 40 percent of the nation’s carbon footprint. By promoting efficiency, the plan would save our families money on their power bills. 

"It would spur job growth," says Suh. "And it would help prepare our workers for success in the global clean energy boom projected to draw more than $7 trillion in investment over the coming 25 years. 

"If (Trump is) serious about creating more good-paying middle-class jobs, why would Trump want to kill that plan?”

Scott Pruitt, Trump's Secretary of the EPA said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," he told CNBC.

In contradiction to the EPA website and most climate scientists (not weather prognosticators) and NASA, Pruitt said, "... we don't know that yet. ... We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis."

RELATED:

• March for Science on Earth Day 
• Obama cites impact of climate change on island nations 
• AAPI environmentalists decry Trump's plan to dismantle climate change regs

The Peoples' Climate March is a broad-based ground-breaking coalition of hundreds of faith-based, labor unions, indigenous, civil rights and environmental justice groups based around the country working together to build bold solutions that tackle climate change, rooted in economic and racial justice.

Invalidating the Clean Power Plan will undo hard-won protections that allow the EPA to meet its legal requirements to regulate pollutants, including carbon dioxide and more.

“This action, by an administration that favors corporate profits over clean air and water, puts our country, our communities and our people at great risk. It also sends a dangerous message to the world that the United States does not care about climate change or protecting frontline communities,” said Paul Getsos, National Coordinator, PCM.

This move, along with past comments and actions illustrates the Trump administration’s continued commitment to undermining any progress in addressing environmental and economic justice. The CPP is a critical component in curbing climate change and an important step in transitioning to a clean energy economy that creates family sustaining jobs in a variety of growing industries.

To combat these continued attacks on climate action and protecting front-line communities, the PCM is gearing up for a mass mobilization to March for Climate, Jobs and Justice, on April 29. Tens of thousands of people have already signed up to converge in Washington, DC to push the Trump administration and Congress to do their jobs – protect our planet.

Some Pacific island nations will be severely affected by the rising waters caused by climate change.

Other marches are being planned throughout the country.

Contrary to the perception that AAPI are not involved in the environmental movement, Suh's prominence in the NRDC and the environmental movement belies the perception that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders don't care about the environment. More and more AAPI are stepping forward:

Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson Co-Founder/ Co-Director and Climate Justice
Alliance Member, said: “This is nothing short of a declaration of war against humanity and all complex life. The question is what are we going to do about it? How do we strengthen the climate justice movement in this era, under these circumstances?”

Luisa Blue, a Filipina/American and Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union, said: “Working people from coast-to-coast are already feeling the devastating health impacts of toxic air and water caused by corporate polluters who for too long have gone unchecked. By undoing the Clean Power Plan, President Trump is reverting our communities to unhealthy and unsafe living conditions to benefit corporations over our communities. We can have a vibrant economy and vibrant communities with clean air and water.”

Vien Truong, National Director, Green For All, said: “We fought long and hard to make the Clean Power Plan a reality. By cutting carbon pollution from power plants, it aims to spark innovation, drive investment and energy efficiency to create jobs and save families money. Most importantly, it has the potential to address power plant pollution in the communities most vulnerable to asthma and other health impacts,” Vien Truong, director of Green For All. “It’s clear that Trump is determined to protect the fossil fuel industry, no matter the cost. Green For All will continue to stand with frontlines families and our most vulnerable to enact policies that create jobs and cut carbon pollution to protect the health of our kids.”

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