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Russian
00:00:00
In 1929 in Chicago,00:00:02
people kept mysteriously
dying inside their homes.00:00:06
It took 15 deaths for the
authorities to realize00:00:09
that these people were getting
killed by...00:00:12
their fridges00:00:14
because fridges back then were
no longer just boxes of ice.00:00:17
Instead, they relied
on a chemical looping00:00:20
through the back to stay cold.00:00:21
And the best chemical for
the job was methyl chloride,00:00:24
a toxic and virtually odorless gas.00:00:27
So if it somehow leaked from the fridge,00:00:30
it could kill you without warning.00:00:32
Other fridges used
flammable gases instead,00:00:35
so a leak combined with
a spark from the stove,00:00:37
and your house could
suddenly go up in flames.00:00:41
So one company tried
to solve this problem,00:00:44
but in the process,00:00:45
they accidentally created a
seemingly magical substance.00:00:49
Soon, it made its way into
a huge range of products,00:00:52
which were so popular they ended up00:00:54
in nearly every home in America.00:00:57
But what people didn't know00:00:59
was that these products came at a price.00:01:02
The chemicals used to make them00:01:03
were being released into the environment,00:01:06
slowly poisoning everyone
on the planet,00:01:09
including me.00:01:12
(swelling music) - You have high levels of a
chemical you never heard of.00:01:14
- It shocks me.00:01:15
Like, where could this have come from?00:01:17
- Almost every living creature,00:01:18
from polar bears to birds to fish,00:01:21
massive worldwide contamination00:01:23
by completely manmade
chemicals that are fingerprints00:01:28
back to just a couple of companies.00:01:30
- This is a video about one00:01:32
of the biggest chemical
coverups in history.00:01:35
For legal reasons, I want to
note that this investigation00:01:38
is based on publicly available
documents, recordings,00:01:41
and third-party opinions.00:01:43
All sources are linked in the description.00:01:46
The story all began with
an attempt to save lives.00:01:50
In 1936, a chemical company
called DuPont set out00:01:54
to find a safer alternative
to the gases used in fridges,00:01:58
one that was neither toxic nor flammable.00:02:01
Their lead scientist on the project00:02:02
was a 27-year-old chemist
named Roy J. Plunkett.00:02:06
He was experimenting00:02:07
with a gas called
tetrafluoroethylene, or TFE.00:02:11
It's a pair of double-bonded carbons,00:02:13
each bonded to two fluorine atoms.00:02:17
One morning, as Plunkett
was setting up a test,00:02:20
his assistant picked out
a cylinder full of TFE00:02:22
and twisted the valve,00:02:24
but nothing came out.00:02:28
Plunkett thought the gas must have leaked,00:02:30
but the cylinder still weighed
about as much as a full one,00:02:33
so he grabbed a saw and
cut the cylinder in half.00:02:38
Inside, he was shocked to see it was full00:02:41
of a white, slippery powder.00:02:45
So what happened to the gas?00:02:47
Well, what the chemist reasoned00:02:49
was that under the high
pressure of the cylinder,00:02:51
one of the double bonds00:02:52
between the carbons in
TFE must have broken.00:02:54
And now those two carbon atoms
each had a bonding site free.00:02:58
So one of them probably
grabbed onto a carbon00:03:00
from a different TFE molecule,
breaking its double bond.00:03:04
And then that molecule did the same,00:03:05
and the process repeated again and again00:03:08
until all of the TFE was
trapped in these long chains.00:03:12
The gas had polymerized into
polytetrafluoroethylene,00:03:16
forming this slippery powder.00:03:19
Plunkett just wanted to get rid of it00:03:21
because it ruined his experiment.00:03:23
But before throwing it out,00:03:25
he decided to do some tests on it.00:03:27
So he tried pouring water on it,00:03:29
but the water just beaded off.00:03:31
So he tried acid. Again, nothing happened.00:03:36
Then he tried the strongest base he had,00:03:39
but that wouldn't melt it either.00:03:41
Plunkett went through all
of the solvents in the lab,00:03:44
but the powder remained intact.00:03:46
It wouldn't melt, corrode,
or react with anything.00:03:50
It was seemingly indestructible.00:03:53
The reason it was so indestructible00:03:55
was because of this bond,
the carbon-fluorine bond.00:04:00
See, out of all of the elements,
fluorine is the greediest,00:04:03
the most electron-hungry atom.00:04:06
Its outer shell is a single electron away00:04:08
from being complete, which
would make it perfectly stable.00:04:11
So fluorine really, really
wants that electron.00:04:15
And because it's so small
compared to most other elements,00:04:18
the protons in its nucleus can get close00:04:20
to the electrons of other atoms.00:04:22
And because of their positive charge,00:04:24
they pull on them really hard.00:04:26
So near a carbon atom,00:04:28
fluorine grabs onto one
of the carbon's electrons00:04:31
to complete its outer shell,00:04:33
and this keeps the two
atoms bonded together.00:04:37
But the fluorine isn't done there.00:04:39
It keeps tugging on
the carbon's electrons,00:04:42
pulling them closer to itself,00:04:44
which makes fluorine
slightly negatively charged00:04:46
and the carbon slightly positive.00:04:49
So now there's an electrostatic attraction00:04:51
that makes this bond even stronger.00:04:53
Now, in reality, electrons
behave more like fuzzy clouds00:04:57
than the orbiting points
in this animation,00:04:59
but the principle still holds.00:05:01
In terms of energy,00:05:02
this is actually the strongest single bond00:05:04
a carbon can form.00:05:06
So if other atoms or molecules get close,00:05:08
they're essentially ignored.00:05:10
And Plunkett's magic powder
was completely covered00:05:13
in carbon-fluorine bonds,00:05:15
so it hardly reacted with anything.00:05:19
Okay, so he is got this
incredibly inert stuff.00:05:21
Was he really trying to get rid of it?00:05:22
- He actually didn't
know what to do with it00:05:24
'cause like what do you
do with the material00:05:26
that doesn't, you know,
react with anything?00:05:29
But luckily his employer, DuPont,
they were actually working00:05:32
with the US Army on the Manhattan Project.00:05:34
So they were refining
uranium and plutonium00:05:36
'cause of course there's
a World War II reference00:05:37
in a Veritasium video.00:05:38
You just have to have it.00:05:40
- To get the fuel for nuclear
bombs, enriched uranium,00:05:44
you first have to turn the uranium00:05:45
into a gas, uranium hexafluoride.00:05:48
It was a nasty chemical
that corroded everything.00:05:51
So all the gaskets, seals,00:05:53
and miles of pipe in
the plant at Oak Ridge00:05:55
had to constantly replaced,
slowing down production.00:05:59
- But then DuPont was like, "Listen,00:06:01
we have this seemingly
indestructible chemical, right?00:06:03
It doesn't react with
stuff it doesn't corrode,00:06:06
so maybe we can try and use it00:06:07
against uranium hexafluoride."00:06:09
So they get a bunch of this powder,00:06:11
they cram it together under high pressure00:06:13
to create these cakes, essentially.00:06:15
Now you had a solid of this material00:06:17
that you could machine
into gaskets and cylinders00:06:20
that you could push into these pipes00:06:21
and put these tube linings into the pipe,00:06:24
and boom, it works like
magic, like a charm.00:06:27
The uranium hexafluoride was no match00:06:29
for this magic material.00:06:31
- As Gordon Fee, the manager00:06:33
of the nuclear weapons plant, put it,00:06:34
"There was never a substitute
considered, as far as I know."00:06:39
The material worked so well00:06:41
that the army wanted to
use it for everything.00:06:44
The same gaskets and seals
were installed into fuel tanks00:06:47
and airplane engines to protect
them from oil and water.00:06:50
And weapons manufacturing
plants no longer had issues00:06:53
with the corrosive nitric acid
needed to make explosives.00:06:56
DuPont saw the potential too,00:06:58
so they trademarked the material in 1944.00:07:00
- They didn't trademark it00:07:02
under the name polytetrafluoroethylene00:07:04
'cause, admittedly,
that name kind of sucks.00:07:06
So they took T-E from
tetra, F-L from fluoro,00:07:09
and then they had a bunch00:07:10
of these other miracle
materials, rayon, nylon.00:07:14
So they took O-N from the end
of those, and boom, Teflon.00:07:18
- Nice. Okay, that's a good name.00:07:22
Under the army's order, DuPont
ramped up Teflon production00:07:25
at their test plant in
Arlington, New Jersey,00:07:27
giving their whole
supply to the government.00:07:29
But DuPont struggled to
produce enough Teflon00:07:32
to meet the military's demand.00:07:35
As their Arlington scientists put it,00:07:37
the major advantages of
polytetrafluoroethylene,00:07:40
solvent resistance and
high thermal stability,00:07:42
offer obstacles from the
standpoint of ease in fabrication.00:07:46
- You could only really
mold Teflon into solids,00:07:49
so gasket, seals, pipes,00:07:51
but you couldn't put it
into water to make a spray00:07:53
because it doesn't dissolve in water.00:07:54
They actually didn't know
anything that dissolved Teflon,00:07:56
but there was an even bigger
problem at that point.00:07:59
- To polymerize TFE into Teflon,
you can add a reactive atom00:08:03
or molecule that will hijack
the first carbon double bond00:08:06
and start the reaction.00:08:07
This is called the initiator.00:08:09
And the bond formed between
it and the first TFE molecule00:08:13
releases a small amount of energy.00:08:15
Then a bit of energy is also released00:08:17
when the next TFE molecule joins the chain00:08:19
and the next and the next.00:08:21
And if the process isn't controlled,00:08:24
the reaction gets very hot very quickly.00:08:27
And if it gets above 200 degrees celsius,00:08:29
TFE rapidly decomposes into
carbon and tetrafluoromethane,00:08:33
which releases even
more energy all at once.00:08:38
This caused a massive explosion00:08:40
at the Arlington plant in
1944, killing two workers.00:08:45
You need a way to dissipate the heat,00:08:48
take the heat away from the reaction00:08:50
without it staying in there00:08:52
and, therefore, expanding
and creating that force.00:08:55
- Yeah, and one of the ways to do that00:08:58
was to have the reaction
happening in water,00:09:00
because water can absorb
a huge amount of energy00:09:02
before it ever heats up.00:09:03
- But if you inject TFE
into a water cylinder,00:09:07
the gas doesn't dissolve.00:09:09
Even at high pressure, most
of the TFE just stays on top.00:09:13
So if you add an initiator,00:09:14
the polymerization is
triggered in one place,00:09:17
and so it can still cause an explosion.00:09:20
What you need is some way00:09:21
to disperse the TFE
throughout the water first.00:09:25
And to do that, DuPont needed help.00:09:28
In 1951, they purchased
a special acid from 3M,00:09:32
the company behind Scotch Tape.00:09:34
This acid, called PFOA,00:09:36
looked almost exactly like Teflon.00:09:39
It had a chain of eight carbon
atoms covered in fluorines,00:09:42
but at the other end, there
was a double-bonded oxygen00:09:45
and an OH group.00:09:46
That's what makes it an acid.00:09:48
And since there were eight
carbons in the chain,00:09:51
DuPont also referred to the acid as C8.00:09:55
The tail end of C8, like
Teflon, was hydrophobic,00:09:58
but the acid head group loved water,00:10:00
it was hydrophilic.00:10:02
So when you add C8 into water,00:10:04
the molecules rearrange themselves00:10:06
so that the heads touch the water,00:10:08
but the Teflon-like tails don't.00:10:10
They create little bubbles
all throughout the water,00:10:13
which are virtually dry on the inside.00:10:16
If you now inject TFE and
stir the whole mixture up,00:10:20
well, the hydrophobic gas ends up00:10:22
in the middle of these C8 bubbles.00:10:25
And those bubbles are dispersed everywhere00:10:28
evenly throughout the water.00:10:30
You know what this reminds me of, is soap.00:10:34
So it's the great combiner00:10:36
that allows, like, oil and water to mix.00:10:38
- And now if you sprinkle
in initiator molecules,00:10:41
the initiator molecules
also go into these bubbles.00:10:43
They start the polymerization reaction,00:10:45
so from TFE to Teflon.00:10:47
But now since it's happening spread all00:10:49
throughout these bubbles,
the heat is evenly dissipated00:10:52
throughout the water, and no one explodes.00:10:53
- And since Teflon is now
suspended in a solution,00:10:57
you can spray it onto
surfaces like a coating.00:11:00
This thing doesn't stick to anything.00:11:02
How do you stick it to the gaskets?00:11:04
You know, how do you actually use it?00:11:06
- Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's a good question.00:11:08
So the trick was actually the surface00:11:09
had to be really rough.00:11:10
So what you do is you
sandblast it to create grooves00:11:13
and imperfections at this,
like, nanoscopic level.00:11:16
Now if you spray the coating on,00:11:18
what happens is, if you heat
it up, the water evaporates,00:11:21
the C8, it also evaporates,00:11:23
but Teflon, instead of it
evaporating, it just softens up.00:11:26
So although there's no
chemical interaction here,00:11:29
now it's mechanically
stuck to the surface.00:11:31
That's how they got it to stick.00:11:38
(suspenseful music)
(quirky music) - With the war over,00:11:39
the army lifted the secrecy
bans on the Teflon patents,00:11:42
and DuPont was allowed
to sell it commercially.00:11:45
And suddenly, people all over the world00:11:47
were coating everyday items in Teflon,00:11:50
trying to create a world-changing product.00:11:53
One day in 1954, a French
engineer, Marc Gregoire,00:11:57
tried putting Teflon on his
fishing gear to prevent tangles.00:12:00
- But then his wife saw him doing that,00:12:02
and her reaction was that,
"This is absolute nonsense.00:12:05
No one is ever gonna use this.00:12:07
You should do something that
someone's actually gonna use.00:12:10
So how about you put it on a
pan? Make a pan non-stick."00:12:13
- And once these pans hit the market,00:12:16
it was a cooking revolution.00:12:18
- Teflon.
- Teflon.00:12:19
- Teflon.00:12:20
- And DuPont knew
exactly how to market it.00:12:23
- Even oatmeal won't stick to Teflon.00:12:25
- Hey, neat. Let me try.00:12:28
- And it wasn't just non-stick pans.00:12:30
Teflon, C8, and chemicals like
it were used in everything.00:12:34
- Slip-Away contains the
magic of DuPont's Teflon.00:12:36
- Suddenly, we had Teflon
stain-resistant carpets00:12:39
and stain protection sprays
like 3M's Scotchgard.00:12:43
Jackets lined with Teflon were
waterproof and breathable.00:12:46
- Gore-Tex is the brand name.00:12:48
- Teflon was so inert that
medical implants made out of it00:12:52
wouldn't be rejected by the body.00:12:54
It was used to coat the Statue
of Liberty's steel framework00:12:58
to save it from corrosion.00:13:00
And even bullets were coated with Teflon00:13:02
to minimize the damage they did coming out00:13:04
of the gun barrel.00:13:06
The term Teflon was so ubiquitous00:13:07
that when the Italian mobster John Gotti00:13:09
was being prosecuted in the late 1980s,00:13:12
none of the charges
against him would stick.00:13:14
So he was dubbed Teflon Don.00:13:17
By the late 1990s,00:13:18
the Teflon business generated
roughly a billion dollars00:13:21
in yearly sales for DuPont.00:13:23
- Teflon has a great future,
and its uses will be many.00:13:27
- The chemicals were everywhere,00:13:31
even where they shouldn't be.00:13:47
- He suspected that
something in this creek00:13:50
was poisoning his cows.00:14:09
- Earl was desperate.
So he hired a lawyer.00:14:13
- He came to our offices armed00:14:16
with boxes of VHS videotapes.00:14:20
We started watching these videotapes,00:14:22
and you know, there was
a serious problem here.00:14:29
- The animals were wasting away,00:14:32
and they were skin and bones,00:14:34
and they had tumors and black teeth.00:14:36
And you could see, on the videotape,00:14:39
white foam coming out of the pipe00:14:42
on this landfill next door00:14:44
with these animals
standing in the white foam.00:14:47
The hair on their hooves
was being eaten off00:14:50
by whatever was in the water.00:14:57
- It was a discharge pipe,00:14:59
and it had the marking00:15:00
of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.00:15:03
- And the landfill that pipe
was draining from belonged00:15:06
to DuPont's massive factory complex00:15:08
outside of Parkersburg, West
Virginia, just six miles away.00:15:14
That factory was Washington Works,00:15:16
the first commercial Teflon plant.00:15:19
It provided jobs for almost
2,000 people in the town.00:15:22
And DuPont's presence was felt everywhere.00:15:25
- I have been a resident of
Parkersburg for 48 years.00:15:29
I do not work for the DuPont company,00:15:31
but I have seen how their
people have done much00:15:33
for the cultural growth of this community.00:15:34
- There are facilities for
tennis, camping, swimming,00:15:39
softball, and more than 20
areas equipped for cookouts00:15:43
and family picnics.00:15:44
- DuPont took care of the community.00:15:46
So when the town folk got word00:15:48
that Earl Tennant hired
a lawyer to investigate,00:15:50
they shunned him and his family.00:15:53
As his sister-in-law put it,
we'd walk into a restaurant00:15:56
and everybody in the restaurant
would get up and leave.00:15:59
But Earl wasn't scared
off, and neither was Rob.00:16:02
- I thought this was gonna
be pretty straightforward.00:16:05
- See, the US Environmental
Protection Agency, the EPA,00:16:09
dictates exactly which chemicals are safe00:16:12
to be disposed of in a
landfill and in what amounts.00:16:15
- We would get those records and permits,00:16:17
and it would tell us which chemical00:16:19
was causing this problem.00:16:21
But none of those records
were really showing anything00:16:26
that was really causing a problem,00:16:28
you know, nothing that would
explain that white foam.00:16:30
- Whatever was in Earl's
water wasn't on the permits.00:16:35
Now, already in the 1950s,
people knew that Teflon,00:16:38
specifically PTFE, was pretty safe.00:16:40
It's a long and extremely inert molecule.00:16:43
So if you ingest it, your
body just flushes it out.00:16:46
However, if you heat Teflon
to 350 degrees Celsius,00:16:49
it starts releasing fumes
that make people sick.00:16:52
This often happened to
workers in Teflon plants.00:16:55
Stray PTFE powder would
fall onto their cigarettes00:16:58
as they were working,00:16:59
and then later they would
accidentally smoke one00:17:02
of these cigarettes.00:17:03
Luckily, the symptoms were mild:00:17:05
fatigue, tightness of chest, headaches,00:17:08
and they would usually
pass within 48 hours.00:17:10
It was called polymer fume fever.00:17:13
And even though it rarely happens today,00:17:15
it's why you should never
overheat your Teflon pan00:17:18
to these temperatures,00:17:19
especially if you have pet birds at home,00:17:21
because the fumes are
much more toxic to them.00:17:25
But Teflon couldn't have
poisoned Earl's cows.00:17:28
There were no fumes or high temperatures,00:17:30
so there must have been
something else in the water.00:17:34
Rob filed a legal request00:17:35
for all of the Washington
Works operational records,00:17:38
and DuPont sent them over,00:17:40
more than 60,000 documents.00:17:43
- A lot of folks would try to say,00:17:46
"Okay, you you want a lot of documents,00:17:48
we'll give you a of documents"00:17:50
and hope that there'd be no way
somebody could actually wade00:17:53
through all of these files
and all of these materials.00:17:57
But I am the kind of
person that I do dig in,00:18:00
and I do want to go
through those documents,00:18:02
so I actually did read all of that.00:18:04
- And in those files,00:18:05
a certain chemical kept
popping up everywhere,00:18:09
C8.00:18:10
- I never saw the kinds
of things I was seeing now00:18:14
in these documents from DuPont.00:18:17
(foreboding music) - In 1961, the same year
Teflon pans hit the US market,00:18:21
DuPont's in-house scientists
tested C8 on rats.00:18:25
Ingesting as little as 1.5 milligrams00:18:28
of C8 per kilogram of body
weight caused the rat's livers00:18:31
to grow abnormally.00:18:33
And a dose of 570 milligrams
per kilogram was lethal.00:18:37
For reference, sodium cyanide,00:18:39
one of the most dangerous
poisons, is lethal to rats00:18:41
in doses of five to 15
milligrams per kilogram.00:18:45
But even though C8 was less fatal,00:18:47
it was concerning for two other reasons.00:18:50
First, like Teflon,00:18:52
its tail is made of carbon-fluorine bonds,00:18:54
which makes it incredibly stable.00:18:56
So C8 wouldn't break down in
the environment for decades.00:19:00
And second, C8 looks like the fatty acids00:19:03
that humans and animals
need for normal functioning,00:19:06
just with fluorines instead of hydrogens.00:19:08
So the concern was that C8
could get into the bloodstream,00:19:11
hitch a ride on the proteins00:19:13
that transport fatty acids around,00:19:14
and get almost anywhere in the body.00:19:17
And because of the carbon-fluorine bonds,00:19:19
humans and animals have
no way to break down C8,00:19:23
so it could slowly build up,
mimicking those fatty acids00:19:26
and potentially disrupting
the systems they regulate,00:19:29
like the liver.00:19:30
- Toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative.00:19:34
So the concern was it's
like a ticking time bomb.00:19:37
It's got more opportunity to cause harm.00:19:39
- As a safety measure, that
same rat study suggested00:19:42
that all these materials should
be handled with extreme care00:19:46
and that contact with skin
should be strictly avoided.00:19:51
In 1962, DuPont redid the study00:19:53
and confirmed that high
doses of C8 kill rats00:19:56
through injury to the stomach, intestine,00:19:59
brain, lungs, and pancreas.00:20:01
Then in 1965, they found those
same toxic effects in dogs.00:20:06
The evidence was mounting.00:20:12
(suspenseful music)
(camera clicks) - They were even studying monkeys.00:20:14
Some of the monkeys were dropping dead.00:20:16
These chemicals were causing toxic effects00:20:18
in multiple organ systems
in multiple species.00:20:23
All these studies weren't being shared00:20:25
with the scientific community.00:20:27
- And likely no one outside00:20:29
of DuPont would've noticed
something was wrong00:20:31
if it was not for...00:20:32
- Tooth decay, the most
widespread of all diseases.00:20:36
- In the 1950s, tooth decay
was a nationwide problem.00:20:39
So the US started adding
inorganic fluorides00:20:42
like sodium fluoride to
the public water supply.00:20:46
This helped fight cavities.00:20:47
- 16 years after fluoridation,00:20:50
all children will have
65% less tooth decay.00:20:55
- In 1975, researchers wanted to know00:20:58
if that inorganic fluoride was
getting into people's blood.00:21:01
So they sampled blood from around the US,00:21:03
and the results were as expected.00:21:06
More fluoride in the tap
water meant more fluoride00:21:09
in the blood.00:21:10
But they found another type
of fluorine in the blood too,00:21:13
which was organic fluorine,00:21:15
carbon-fluorine bonds, and it
didn't follow the same trend.00:21:19
- Well, these researchers were wondering,00:21:22
where's this coming from?00:21:23
Because this is not a
naturally occurring substance.00:21:27
And they did research,00:21:28
and they found that 3M was
making these organic fluorides,00:21:33
things like PFOA.00:21:34
All right, so they approached
3M in 1975, asking them,00:21:39
"Hey, we found this stuff00:21:42
in the general US population's blood.00:21:44
You know, could it be yours?"00:21:46
And 3M pled ignorance.00:21:49
- But just three months later,00:21:51
3M compared the spectrum of
organic fluorine from the study00:21:55
to their own chemicals, and00:21:57
it was a match.00:21:58
Their chemicals were
getting into the blood00:22:00
of people all across the United States,00:22:03
but they didn't tell the researchers.00:22:06
3M and DuPont were worried,00:22:08
so they checked their own workers' blood,00:22:11
and they found that they too
were contaminated with C800:22:14
at levels 1,000 times higher
than those in the study.00:22:18
And when DuPont checked
their medical records,00:22:20
many of these workers were
showing signs of liver disease.00:22:24
Meanwhile, DuPont was
dumping almost 10 tons of C800:22:28
into the Ohio River each year,00:22:31
and they were piling
up thousands more tons00:22:33
as C8 sludge that would leach00:22:35
from the landfill next to Earl's farm,00:22:38
all while showing commercials like these.00:22:40
- And the water that
eventually flows to the river00:22:43
is collected at five points and analyzed00:22:46
to make sure we don't pollute the Ohio.00:22:48
- And by the early '80s,00:22:49
the first cancer study is done in rats,00:22:52
and it confirms PFOA causes,00:22:56
not just might be linked with,00:22:57
but causes testicular tumors, all right?00:23:01
That sends alarm bells
off within the company00:23:04
because the concern is, of course,00:23:06
we're putting this in the air,
we're putting in the water.00:23:09
It's in Teflon.00:23:10
- DuPont collected samples
around Washington Works,00:23:13
and C8 wasn't just in the river,00:23:15
it was in the public water supply.00:23:18
So in 1984, DuPont officials met00:23:21
to assess whether C8 should be swapped00:23:23
for a safer chemical.00:23:25
But their conclusion
was that currently none00:23:27
of the options developed are,00:23:29
from a fine powder business standpoint,00:23:31
economically attractive,
so C8 stuck around,00:23:35
and DuPont just came up with a
safe dose for drinking water.00:23:39
- DuPont scientists are the
first people on the planet00:23:42
to say what would be a
safe level for humans.00:23:45
They calculated something
like 0.6 parts per billion,00:23:50
which they rounded up to one.00:23:52
And the importance of
that is, at that time,00:23:54
that was about the lowest level
you could detect in water.00:23:58
Essentially, if we can
detect it, it's too high.00:24:02
- So to put that into perspective,00:24:04
here is one 2,500-liter tank of water.00:24:08
It filled to the brim.00:24:09
Now, imagine you take one drop
of PFOA, 0.05 milliliters,00:24:13
and you place it not in one of these tanks00:24:15
or two or three,00:24:17
20 of these tanks.00:24:19
That's one part per billion,00:24:20
and that's the number DuPont thought00:24:22
would be unsafe for humans to drink.00:24:24
- And after determining
its own safety metric,00:24:27
DuPont tested the landfill
wastewater leaching00:24:29
into Earl's creek.00:24:31
It came back at 1,600 parts per billion.00:24:34
- They didn't tell anybody.00:24:36
So at that point, I
thought I had figured out00:24:39
what had finally happened to the cows.00:24:41
- Rob compiled all the
evidence into a 900-page letter00:24:46
and sent it to the EPA,
the Department of Justice,00:24:48
and even the US Attorney General.00:24:52
And just a few months later,00:24:53
DuPont settled with Earl Tennant00:24:55
and his family for an undisclosed sum,00:24:57
although they didn't
admit to any wrongdoing.00:25:00
- But this stuff wasn't just00:25:02
in the water the cows were drinking.00:25:05
This was in00:25:06
the surrounding communities'
public wells, right?00:25:09
People around Mr. Tennant,00:25:10
the tens of thousands of people00:25:12
in that community had
likely been drinking this00:25:14
for decades and didn't know.00:25:16
- So Rob sued DuPont again,00:25:18
now on behalf of the 70,000
people around Parkersburg00:25:22
who were unwittingly exposed to C8.00:25:25
And it wasn't just
Parkersburg or West Virginia.00:25:29
In the year 2000, researchers
analyzed blood samples00:25:32
from thousands of Americans
all across the country,00:25:35
and 100% of those samples
came back positive for C800:25:40
at an average of five parts per billion.00:25:43
But if virtually everyone
in the US is contaminated,00:25:47
how harmful could C8 really be?00:25:50
This is exactly what Rob had to find out00:25:52
to have a fighting chance against DuPont.00:25:54
So in 2005, he spearheaded a medical study00:25:58
of everyone around Washington Works.00:26:00
- Scientists need to know00:26:02
if the chemical C8 causes
any health problems.00:26:04
By completing a health questionnaire00:26:06
and having your blood
tested, you can help.00:26:08
- Analyzing the blood samples00:26:10
and medical records took seven long years,00:26:13
and many in Parkersburg passed away00:26:15
before a verdict was even reached,00:26:16
including Earl and his wife Sandra.00:26:20
But finally, in 2013,00:26:22
an independent science
panel had the results.00:26:25
They confirmed a probable link between C800:26:28
and six human diseases,
including thyroid disease,00:26:31
testicular cancer, and kidney cancer.00:26:34
And these findings were based
solely on the nearby community00:26:38
with an average C8 blood
level of 28 parts per billion.00:26:42
So for example, an American
male has around a 1 in 43 chance00:26:45
of developing kidney cancer.00:26:47
It's around 1 in 73 for females,00:26:49
but a person with more
than 30 parts per billion00:26:51
of C8 in their blood serum00:26:53
might have about double the odds,00:26:55
so roughly 1 in 22 for males
and 1 in 37 for females.00:27:00
But the data in many00:27:01
of these studies only included survivors,00:27:03
not people who might have
already died from C8 exposure.00:27:06
So the verdict was00:27:07
that the findings must be
interpreted with caution.00:27:11
The true risk of C8 might be even higher.00:27:15
Luckily, once these studies
were published in 2013,00:27:18
DuPont was pressured by the
regulators to phase out C8.00:27:22
And by 2017, they had to
pay out over $600 million00:27:26
to victims of C8 exposure,00:27:29
which is a pretty small price to pay00:27:31
for a company that made almost $80 billion00:27:33
in sales just that year.00:27:36
And all throughout, DuPont
denied any wrongdoing,00:27:40
but that wasn't the end of it
for Parkersburg or anyone else00:27:44
because DuPont separated
its entire Teflon business00:27:47
into a spinoff company, Chemours,00:27:49
that agreed to use a different chemical.00:27:53
So what was it?00:27:54
- They simply took C8 and
knocked two carbons off00:27:58
and started making C6.00:28:00
- They called it GenX.00:28:03
Because it was shorter00:28:04
and had an oxygen atom
interrupting the carbon chain,00:28:07
it was expected to be more degradable.00:28:09
So Chemours claimed a dose as
high as 70 parts per billion00:28:12
of GenX in drinking water
would still be safe.00:28:15
- That chemical gets shipped00:28:17
to the same plant in West Virginia.00:28:20
So now GenX goes into the air.00:28:22
GenX goes into the Ohio River.00:28:24
GenX is found in public water supplies.00:28:27
So GenX is allowed to
come out into the world,00:28:30
be used in Teflon.00:28:32
Then the cancer study is done,00:28:34
which shows GenX causes
the exact same three tumors00:28:39
in rats that PFOA did:00:28:41
liver, testicular, and pancreatic.00:28:43
- And the fact that its chain00:28:45
is shorter also makes GenX more mobile,00:28:48
so it could contaminate larger areas.00:28:51
The truth is we just don't
know enough about it,00:28:54
and that's exactly the problem.00:28:55
- It took us decades to get to the point00:28:58
of finally addressing C8.00:29:01
They simply tweak it a bit,
change the chemical name.00:29:04
All of the science and all
of the concern, that's on C8.00:29:09
This is C6 or C9 or C4.00:29:12
You don't have enough evidence00:29:14
that these other ones are bad.00:29:16
This is Whac-A-Mole.00:29:17
We get to the point we're addressing one00:29:19
and the new one pops up00:29:20
and we're told we have to start over.00:29:22
- And it isn't just C8 or GenX.00:29:26
They belong to a family00:29:27
of over 14,000 different
manmade chemicals,00:29:30
all covered in carbon-fluorine bonds.00:29:33
And companies can make
them however they want,00:29:35
C7s, C9s, branched, polymers, acids.00:29:39
The generic term for all of
these substances is PFAS,00:29:43
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,00:29:46
and like Teflon, they have
almost magical qualities.00:29:50
They repel liquids,00:29:51
so PFAS are used to make
clothing waterproof.00:29:54
They're also grease-resistant,00:29:56
so we coat things like fast food wrappers00:29:58
and microwave popcorn bags
in PFAS to prevent stains.00:30:02
Waterproof lipstick and
mascara, hygiene products,00:30:05
and even contact lenses have PFAS in.00:30:07
Even the screen you're watching this on,00:30:09
likely has a PFAS anti-smudge coating.00:30:13
(brooding music)00:30:14
The trouble is that the
same carbon-fluorine bonds00:30:17
that make PFAS so stable00:30:19
and useful in consumer products00:30:21
also make them incredibly
persistent in the environment.00:30:25
Which is why you might also know PFAS00:30:26
under a different name, forever chemicals.00:30:30
They have been found
everywhere from bustling cities00:30:33
to untouched areas of wilderness.00:30:36
Every continent, including
Antarctica, has PFAS all over it.00:30:40
- Almost every living creature00:30:43
from polar bears to birds to fish,00:30:46
I mean, this stuff is
being found everywhere.00:30:49
So massive worldwide contamination,00:30:52
but by completely manmade chemicals00:30:56
that are fingerprints back to
just a couple of companies.00:31:00
- Even though companies knew00:31:03
how dangerous these
chemicals were 50 years ago,00:31:05
they decided not to inform
the public and the regulators.00:31:08
So we're only finding out00:31:10
about this global contamination now.00:31:12
And there've been many cases00:31:14
where important public health information00:31:16
doesn't get widely disseminated for years.00:31:19
And whenever that happens,00:31:20
media coverage can be inconsistent,00:31:22
which is why I've partnered
up with Ground News00:31:24
as the sponsor of this video.00:31:27
Their platform reveals how
stories like these are covered00:31:29
across the media landscape.00:31:31
For example, a recent study suggested00:31:33
that 23 million Americans00:31:35
were exposed to forever
chemicals through wastewater,00:31:38
but you probably haven't seen the story00:31:40
since fewer than 40
outlets even published it.00:31:43
And take a look at how different some00:31:45
of these headlines are.00:31:47
With Ground News,00:31:48
you can also see that
government-funded sources00:31:50
had limited reporting of this story,00:31:52
and only 9% of the publications
were right-leaning.00:31:56
So Ground News flagged this
as a potential blind spot.00:31:59
It's highlighted on their blind-spot feed00:32:01
where you can see stories00:32:02
that are disproportionately covered00:32:04
by one side of the political spectrum.00:32:07
The whole point of
Veritasium is to make videos00:32:09
that get to the truth,00:32:11
whether that's explaining misconceptions00:32:12
or getting to the bottom of
potentially dangerous chemicals.00:32:16
Ground News helps us do that,
and they can help you too.00:32:19
So if you, like us, care
about getting to the truth,00:32:22
go to ground.news/ve or scan this QR code.00:32:26
Our link gets you 40%
off their vantage plan.00:32:29
And now back to PFAS.00:32:32
(quirky music)00:32:33
Okay, now I wanna find out how much00:32:37
of these chemicals is
actually in my blood.00:32:40
So I have a little test here. (groans)00:32:45
I hate the idea of drawing
my own blood. (groans)00:32:52
Okay, that was pretty easy, actually.00:32:54
I was really worried00:32:55
that there was not gonna
be enough blood coming out.00:32:58
But there was plenty.00:33:00
(sighs) So the question is,00:33:03
how much of these dangerous
chemicals are in my blood?00:33:06
- Has anyone ever come back with blood00:33:08
that has zero PFAS whatsoever?00:33:10
- I've been doing blood
testing on PFAS since 2007,00:33:14
and I've never seen a non-detect.00:33:16
- No way.
- So I hear that 98%00:33:19
of the population has PFAS in their blood,00:33:21
but I'm looking for that 2% that doesn't00:33:23
because I've yet to see them.00:33:25
- That's incredible, I mean very,00:33:27
very bad incredible, but wow.00:33:29
- But if everyone on
Earth has trace amounts00:33:33
of these chemicals in their blood,00:33:35
how much harm could they really be doing?00:33:37
- I wanna make a distinction00:33:38
because it turns out not all
PFAS are equally dangerous.00:33:42
You can kind of split
them up into two groups.00:33:44
First up, you have long, repeating chains00:33:46
of carbon-fluorine bonds00:33:47
that are tens or hundreds
of thousands of atoms long,00:33:50
so stuff like Teflon.00:33:52
These are so big and inert that
even if you do ingest them,00:33:55
your body's just gonna flush them out.00:33:56
They can't be absorbed
into your bloodstream,00:33:58
so you're pretty safe.00:34:00
They're called fluoropolymers00:34:01
because of the long repeating chains00:34:03
of carbon and fluorine bonds.00:34:04
But the catch is to make
these fluoropolymers,00:34:07
stuff like Teflon, you need
to use processing aids,00:34:09
things like PFOA or GenX,
and those are the nasty ones.00:34:13
These molecules are 5 to 10 carbons long,00:34:15
which makes them small enough00:34:17
to actually enter the bloodstream.00:34:19
They have functional groups at the ends00:34:21
that are usually acids.00:34:22
The most common ones are
perfluoroalkyl acids,00:34:25
which means that they can bind
to the proteins in your blood00:34:28
and be transported anywhere in the body.00:34:30
So they slowly accumulate
and build up over time.00:34:35
Now, there are more than
just two groups of PFAS00:34:37
and even different definitions
of what PFAS even are,00:34:40
but most of what we know really relates00:34:42
to just a handful of chemicals
from this group here,00:34:45
to these perfluoroalkyl acids.00:34:48
(wondrous music)00:34:49
- Perhaps the most comprehensive
document on PFAS toxicity00:34:52
was published in 202200:34:54
by the National Academies of Sciences,00:34:56
Engineering, and Medicine.00:34:58
And it looked at only
seven perfluoroalkyl acids.00:35:02
These are sister chemicals to PFOA.00:35:04
And some of them, like PFOS and PFHxS,00:35:08
were used heavily in
the production of stain00:35:10
and water-resistant products
like 3M's Scotchgard00:35:14
before they too got phased
out due to toxicity concerns.00:35:18
The report surmised that if the sum00:35:21
of these seven acids in your blood00:35:22
is below two parts per billion,
there shouldn't be any harm.00:35:27
If your level is between 2
and 20 parts per billion,00:35:29
there's a potential for
harmful health effects.00:35:32
Although the exact mechanism00:35:34
by which PFAS cause harm
isn't fully understood,00:35:37
exposure has most
consistently been associated00:35:40
with high cholesterol, a
decreased immune system response00:35:43
to vaccines and infections, kidney cancer,00:35:46
and decreased growth in infants.00:35:48
But PFAS have also been linked00:35:50
to dozens of other conditions,00:35:52
and above 20 parts per billion,
the risk is even greater.00:35:56
So where do I fall on this graph?00:35:59
- Right, so I have your results here.00:36:02
- You're not gonna tell me what yours were00:36:03
before I see mine?00:36:05
- No.00:36:06
- All right.00:36:07
- You're positive for PFOA.00:36:09
- Okay.00:36:10
- The level for PFOA for
a US person went down00:36:15
from five parts per
billion around the 2000s00:36:17
to around 1.46, what you have.00:36:20
So you're super average for a US person.00:36:23
- Great. Okay.00:36:24
- The good news is though,
no GenX for you or for me,00:36:28
which is great. - All right, let's go.00:36:30
- But the real surprise, I ,guess is PFOS,00:36:33
the sister chemical, and it
was used in a similar way,00:36:36
so stain-resistant
carpets, treated clothing,00:36:38
and your result is at
8.93 parts per billion,00:36:41
whereas the US average is 4.3.00:36:45
-Yeah.00:36:46
- That's crazy.00:36:47
- Yeah, it is crazy00:36:48
'cause it was discontinued
pretty much in 2002.00:36:51
- This is not the results I expected.00:36:53
I honestly expected very boring results00:36:55
of, like, yeah, you're
around the middle of the pack00:36:58
or a little bit on the low side.00:37:00
- And then for PFHxS,00:37:02
basically PFOS but six
instead of eight carbons,00:37:05
your levels here are almost
seven parts per billion,00:37:08
but the US average average
is one part per billion.00:37:10
You're higher than 95% of Americans.00:37:12
- It just, like, it shocks me00:37:14
'cause, like, I was fully walking00:37:16
into this meeting expecting to be,00:37:18
you know, roughly average.00:37:19
- Yeah, to me, it's scary.00:37:20
You know, you live in
a normal life thinking00:37:22
that you're taking care of everything,00:37:24
and then you have high levels00:37:25
of a chemical you never heard of.00:37:26
- The combined sum of all
the PFAS detected in my blood00:37:30
was 17.92 parts per billion,00:37:33
more than double the US median.00:37:36
I'm just below the level00:37:37
where the National Academies
recommend additional screenings00:37:40
for PFAS-related diseases.00:37:43
I had no idea I would come
back with such elevated levels.00:37:46
I'd love to get the
level, sort of, down a bit00:37:48
to a level where I feel
like it's more in line00:37:50
with the general population.00:37:52
- Yeah.00:37:53
- But, like, where could
this have come from?00:37:55
There are three main ways we get exposed00:37:57
to forever chemicals,00:37:59
and the one you'll hear
the most about in the media00:38:01
is likely PFAS-containing products.00:38:03
- Shampoo, dental floss,
paints, varnishes.00:38:06
- Potentially dangerous chemicals.00:38:08
- Dangerous chemicals, toxic chemicals.00:38:10
- People are throwing out
their non-stick cookware.00:38:13
- My wife threw out all our
non-stick pans over a year ago,00:38:16
and since then, we've been
using stainless steel.00:38:19
She is very good at making it
not stick. Me, not so much.00:38:22
But are pans really the problem?00:38:25
The actual coating on the pan is Teflon,00:38:27
which, again, is just a long, inert chain00:38:30
of carbon-fluorine bonds.00:38:31
So even if you ingest it, it
doesn't react with your body.00:38:35
If you have a pan like that at home,00:38:37
you probably don't need to throw it out.00:38:40
The same goes for most other
PFAS-containing products.00:38:43
Waterproof clothing,
stain-resistant furniture,00:38:46
and sweat-proof watchbands00:38:47
might all release some level of PFAS,00:38:50
but the risk of direct exposure
through skin is likely low.00:38:55
So the bigger problem is how easily PFAS00:38:58
from these products can
end up in the environment.00:39:01
And many of the factories00:39:02
that make these products
don't have a good track record00:39:05
of keeping the chemicals contained.00:39:07
- People don't understand
that the stories that you see,00:39:11
for example, what was happening00:39:12
in the community in West Virginia,00:39:15
this is the same chemical
and the same things00:39:17
that we're seeing play
out now in Australia00:39:21
and in Japan, in Italy,
in Germany, in the UK.00:39:25
I mean, there are a lot of folks00:39:27
that are still not grasping the fact00:39:29
that these are the same chemicals.00:39:31
- Our second main source
of exposure is food.00:39:35
A lot of it comes packaged
in PFAS-treated materials,00:39:39
like takeout boxes,
microwave popcorn bags,00:39:42
and burger wrappers.00:39:44
It's on a burger wrapper.00:39:46
Is it a tiny amount? Is it
a ridiculously tiny amount?00:39:50
- We actually did tests at the lab00:39:53
with stuff that usually contains PFAS.00:39:55
So microwave popcorn, fast food wrappers,00:39:58
paper cups that are waterproof.00:40:00
So I have tap water here
from a house in London.00:40:02
Could we boil some water?00:40:04
Because usually you
interact with these products00:40:06
when they're hot and then see
if any of the PFAS leaches off00:40:10
and you potentially
eat them or drink them.00:40:12
- This is citizen science, right?00:40:13
So it's, like, there might be some error,00:40:15
but with a solid control00:40:17
and then with the same tap
water going to all of them,00:40:20
we can at least get something, yeah.00:40:21
- Yeah, and even if we get nothing,00:40:23
we'll know that people are probably safe00:40:24
using these products.00:40:25
All right.
- Whisk it around.00:40:27
- Yeah, really get that PFAS00:40:30
in that water, right.
- The juices going.00:40:31
- And get the PFAS juices going.
- Well, it's supposed00:40:32
to be safe for human consumption.00:40:34
- Yeah.
- That's the wild thing.00:40:35
- We sloshed it around there,00:40:37
hot water, boiling water
for around 30 seconds,00:40:39
and then we tested that water
to see if any of the PFAS00:40:42
that are used to coat these items00:40:43
would actually make it into the water.00:40:44
So here's what I got.00:40:45
And these are parts per trillion now.00:40:47
So for PFOA, good news.00:40:50
Basically no detection anywhere00:40:52
except for the microwave popcorn.00:40:53
I will say these are very low
levels, but hold your horses00:40:57
'cause microwave popcorn gets worse.00:40:59
- The thing about microwave popcorn,00:41:01
it's sitting in there
wrapped up with the popcorn00:41:04
for months or years00:41:06
before you ever stick
it in your microwave.00:41:08
That gives those chemicals plenty of time00:41:10
to, like, leach into the oils,00:41:13
and it's gonna go all over the popcorn,00:41:14
and you're gonna eat it.00:41:16
This could explain some
of our own results.00:41:18
The level for PFPeA,00:41:20
which is a shorter variation of PFOA,00:41:22
came back at 10 parts per trillion00:41:24
after the popcorn bag test.00:41:27
And you can see similar results00:41:28
in some of the other PFAS species.00:41:31
- But then microwave popcorn
actually drops for PFOS.00:41:36
Why could that be? We don't actually know.00:41:37
- I was gonna say maybe the PFOS, like,00:41:40
went on that wrapper and found its friends00:41:42
and just hung out there.00:41:43
- Yeah, could be.00:41:44
I know we've only done,
like, one test here.00:41:47
No repeat measurements, so we
can't conclude much from this,00:41:50
but there's something to be said00:41:52
for when you're using these products,00:41:54
they're gonna leach into your
water and leach into your food00:41:56
- And research tends to agree.00:41:59
A 2019 study found that eating fast food00:42:02
and microwave popcorn especially
can increase your PFAS load00:42:06
while eating homecooked meals doesn't.00:42:08
But even something as simple
as reheating your food00:42:11
on a plate instead of in
the original packaging00:42:13
could prevent PFAS from
migrating to your food.00:42:17
Now, you might expect00:42:18
that these part per
trillion levels we detected00:42:20
in the London tap water
are nothing compared00:42:22
to the parts per billion
you'd find in human blood,00:42:26
but the surprising thing is that00:42:27
to have two parts per billion
of PFOA in your blood,00:42:31
you don't need to drink water00:42:32
with two parts per billion of PFOA in it00:42:35
because PFAS accumulate
in your body over time.00:42:39
So even water with as little
as four parts per trillion00:42:42
of PFOA combined with other
exposure can be enough00:42:46
to maintain your blood levels this high.00:42:49
And this is why, in addition to food,00:42:51
water is your biggest source of exposure.00:42:54
This is especially true if
you live near a PFAS factory00:42:57
where the local water is
often heavily contaminated.00:43:01
But the same goes for areas
near military bases or airports.00:43:05
See, adding chemicals like PFOA00:43:07
or PFOS to water lowers
its surface tension00:43:11
so the water gets more slippery,00:43:13
and these chemicals also tend to foam up.00:43:16
So they make for an excellent ingredient00:43:18
in firefighting foams,
they spread quicker,00:43:21
and the foam blocks access
to oxygen extremely well.00:43:24
And since both military bases00:43:26
and airports frequently do
fire drills with these foams,00:43:29
they end up seeping00:43:30
into the surrounding soil and groundwater.00:43:33
But it doesn't stop there.00:43:34
- Currently, we have reached
planetary saturation levels00:43:38
for PFAS, which means that
when you look up at that cloud00:43:42
and it rains, it rains unsafe levels00:43:45
of at least four PFAS species.00:43:47
- It turns out that our entire water cycle00:43:50
is contaminated with PFAS.00:43:52
So even when it rains
on the Tibetan Plateau,00:43:55
that rain contains PFAS.00:43:58
To check the water levels in your area,00:44:00
you can use these maps00:44:02
that show PFAS
contamination across the US,00:44:05
Europe, and Australia.00:44:06
What about Los Angeles, Encino?00:44:09
That's where I spent, like,
7 of the last 10 years.00:44:13
- Crescenta Valley.00:44:15
- Those are all high.00:44:17
- Yeah. - Santa Clarita, some.
PFHxS level is crazy.00:44:22
So maybe you're getting your
water from Santa Clarita.00:44:25
- Wow.00:44:26
- There's a calculator.00:44:27
It could give you what an
estimate in your blood serum is.00:44:30
What we can try to do now is
put that up in the calculator,00:44:32
see if you get something close00:44:34
to what you have, if you want.00:44:35
- Sure.00:44:36
- PFHxS, so typical value for an adult00:44:39
is one part per billion,00:44:41
and then the Santa Clarita water00:44:43
is around 37 parts per trillion.00:44:45
- If you look after, like, 10 years.00:44:48
- So after roughly 10 years of exposure,00:44:49
you would have to have 6.85
parts per billion in your blood.00:44:54
And then I can tell you
that you are at 6.84.00:44:57
- That would explain things.00:44:59
Now, I can't say for sure00:45:00
where my drinking water was coming from,00:45:03
but if I was consistently
drinking water contaminated00:45:06
at similar levels, then that
would explain my results.00:45:10
But if you are worried
about your own water,00:45:12
you should contact your provider directly00:45:14
for the most relevant information.00:45:16
It's concerning just00:45:18
how unregulated drinking water has been.00:45:21
It was actually only a
year ago in April 202400:45:23
that the US EPA finally set legal limits00:45:26
for PFAS in drinking water.00:45:28
The safe level for PFOA went down00:45:30
from DuPont's initial one part per billion00:45:33
to four parts per trillion.00:45:35
- So we're no longer talking
about one drop of PFOA00:45:38
in 20 of these tanks,00:45:39
we're talking about one drop in 5,000.00:45:42
That's five Olympic-sized swimming pools.00:45:45
And if there's even a
drop of PFOA in there,00:45:48
the EPA is concerned.00:45:50
- The same four parts per trillion limit00:45:53
was also set for PFOS,
the sister chemical.00:45:56
And GenX went down00:45:57
from the 70,000 parts per
trillion initially proposed00:45:59
by Chemours to just 10.00:46:02
The same goes for PFHxS.00:46:04
For reference, the EPA's
limit for lead in water00:46:07
is 10,000 parts per trillion,00:46:09
and for cyanide, 200,000,00:46:12
- It gives you a pretty clear indication00:46:15
of how concerned the
scientific community is.00:46:17
- And just when we got EPA limits,00:46:20
we got a new administration in the US,00:46:22
which might be reversing
some of the PFAS bans.00:46:25
So you can't always
depend on the regulators,00:46:27
and you seemingly can't
depend on the companies00:46:30
that make this stuff to
dispose of it safely.00:46:33
So what can you do?00:46:35
If your water is contaminated,00:46:37
you might want to consider
getting a PFAS-certified filter.00:46:41
Reverse osmosis, granulated active carbon,00:46:44
and ion exchange filters are all capable00:46:46
of removing PFAS out of drinking water.00:46:49
But the responsibility
to filter drinking water00:46:52
shouldn't come down to the individual.00:46:54
PFAS should be captured at the
source, during manufacturing,00:46:58
before they ever reach the environment.00:47:00
And some companies like Puraffinity00:47:02
are developing custom
filters to make that happen.00:47:05
- So very lab-looking lab.00:47:08
- Exactly. Yeah, yeah.00:47:09
So could you walk me through, like,00:47:10
what all these pipes do, and
what do you have in here?00:47:12
- So this water is representative00:47:14
of where you've had a big
firefighting foam incident.00:47:17
So you wanna filter this water,00:47:19
but basically, the concept
is take it from the top00:47:22
through the vessel.00:47:23
As it passes through this material,00:47:25
it basically sticks on00:47:27
to some of the PFAS chemicals in water,00:47:29
and then you run into
another part of treatment00:47:32
and a third one.00:47:33
- To me, it seems like if PFAS
are so, like, bioaccumulative00:47:36
and actually persistent and stable,00:47:38
they don't really react with things.00:47:40
So how do you force them to
react with stuff in here?00:47:43
- Basically, taking advantage
of this long organic tail00:47:46
as well as the polar head,00:47:48
and so you can have some
electrostatic interactions00:47:50
with the polar head,00:47:51
and then you can have some hydrophilic00:47:53
and hydrophobic
interactions with the tail.00:47:55
And by combining these
three binding mechanisms,00:47:58
you increase massively your
likelihood of binding PFAS,00:48:02
even if it's still difficult.00:48:03
- Right, do the levels
drop 100% already here,00:48:06
or do you see a gradual decrease in PFAS00:48:09
as you go?
- That's the cool question. - Okay.
- So in the beginning,00:48:11
it drops 100% after this one.00:48:13
- Oh, so problem solved, or?00:48:14
- Problem solved for the time being.00:48:16
- Okay. Okay.
- What we see right now00:48:18
is it will last about 40,000
volumes of this vessel.00:48:22
So a 10-liter vessel would
basically provides all00:48:25
of the PFAS treatment for a household.00:48:26
- In a year.
- For a year.00:48:28
- You want this to be in factories first,00:48:30
so it never gets into the water.00:48:31
- Yeah.
- Yeah. - We are talking to the
fluorochemicals manufacturers,00:48:35
and they're really trying to,00:48:36
yeah, move forward rather than
just wait for regulations.00:48:42
(bright music) - Everyone's true risk from
PFAS will be different.00:48:45
It depends on dozens of factors,00:48:46
like your water
contamination, your lifestyle,00:48:49
what you eat.00:48:50
But how much should you
really worry about it?00:48:53
Like, if I'm at 17 or
18 parts per billion,00:48:56
is that the equivalent of
drinking a beer a night00:48:58
or going out in the Australian
sun without sunscreen?00:49:01
- So what I like to do is
create this hierarchy of risk.00:49:05
And in terms of hierarchy
of risk reduction,00:49:08
number one on that is
stopping smoking, exercising,00:49:13
consuming a healthy, whole-food diet,00:49:15
and making sure you're getting
seven to nine hours of sleep.00:49:18
Then you have medium
levels of intervention,00:49:20
seeing your primary care doctor,00:49:22
controlling your cholesterol numbers.00:49:24
And then on the lower tier that you have,00:49:26
PFAS probably falls into that lower tier.00:49:28
- Being preventative about PFAS exposure00:49:31
is currently our only option00:49:33
because there are no approved
medical treatments available.00:49:38
However, if you compare PFAS contamination00:49:40
between the sexes, male levels
are consistently higher,00:49:44
at least up until around the age of 5000:49:47
when menopause usually starts.00:49:49
This is partly because
menstruation, birth,00:49:52
and lactation are all ways
PFAS can escape the body.00:49:56
PFAS can pass through the placenta00:49:57
and into the fetus during pregnancy,00:50:00
and then the baby can also get
exposed through breast milk.00:50:03
- It's something that pregnant people00:50:05
should be extremely careful about.00:50:08
You know, young children
are incredibly susceptible.00:50:10
They're drinking more
water, they're growing,00:50:12
they're near surfaces
like treated carpets.00:50:15
- Now, not everyone has
to change their lifestyle00:50:18
because of PFAS, but if you
are in a high-risk group00:50:22
because of pregnancy00:50:23
or because you live or work
in a PFAS-contaminated area,00:50:27
you might want to consider it.00:50:30
(fire roaring)00:50:31
Firefighters have
especially high PFAS levels00:50:34
because their gear and
foams are laced with them.00:50:37
Remarkably, a 2022 study found00:50:39
that when firefighters donated blood00:50:41
or plasma frequently enough,00:50:43
they reduced their PFAS levels
by up to 30% within a year.00:50:47
- And it's kind of ironic that,00:50:49
you know, our health system's
coming back to bloodletting.00:50:52
- What do you think about
the idea of donating blood00:50:56
as a way to reduce PFAS in the body?00:50:58
- I've never heard of that as a strategy.00:51:01
That's kind of interesting.00:51:02
Well, I definitely recommend00:51:03
people donate blood more frequently,00:51:05
not because of PFAS exposure,00:51:07
but because of the fact
we desperately need blood.00:51:10
What's important to note is that,00:51:12
especially in this current administration,00:51:14
we need to be very careful
about shifting budgets away00:51:16
from research agencies
because without that research,00:51:19
the guidance that I'm giving00:51:20
is gonna be significantly more flawed.00:51:23
The reason I'm able to
talk about what we know00:51:25
and what we don't know
comes from that research.00:51:27
So if we're gonna be cutting the budgets00:51:28
to these major agencies
and letting scientists go,00:51:31
we're only gonna get worse
and worse information.00:51:33
- We are still a good few years away00:51:36
from proper medical treatment
and better PFAS regulations00:51:39
because this is extremely tricky.00:51:41
There are places where we
should ban PFAS completely,00:51:44
like hygiene products,
cosmetics, and food packaging,00:51:47
and some countries are already doing that.00:51:50
But we also can't ban PFAS
altogether, at least not yet,00:51:53
because we still rely on these chemicals00:51:55
for things like medical implants.00:51:57
And it's currently impossible
to make semiconductors00:51:59
for our electronics without them00:52:01
- All the tubing00:52:03
for the vaccine
manufacturing is PFAS-based.00:52:05
They take us to space as
well, our space suits.00:52:08
But even in these niche applications,00:52:10
we have to be responsible
around how we use it.00:52:13
- People are coming together00:52:14
from a lot of different disciplines00:52:16
to create destruction mechanisms,00:52:18
to create novel capture materials,00:52:21
and to create novel replacements.00:52:23
I am excited and inspired
by all of the great work00:52:27
that's going on around me.00:52:28
So I think if people want to learn more,00:52:31
I would advise them to
learn about the risk,00:52:33
but then also learn
about the new technology00:52:35
that's being developed00:52:37
that will hopefully put
us in the right direction.00:52:40
- So to me,00:52:41
you know, one of the most
important things we can do00:52:43
is have discussions like
what we're doing right here.00:52:46
If the story and the
information's out there,00:52:49
people can make informed choices00:52:51
about whether they want to
continue purchasing things00:52:54
that have these materials in them.00:52:56
And what we're seeing is
consumers, as they do become aware,00:53:00
are saying, "No, we don't
want these chemicals."00:53:03
And companies are
voluntarily coming forward00:53:06
and taking these chemicals out of products00:53:09
because the consumers
are now demanding it.00:53:11
- We've been here before
with leaded gasoline,00:53:14
Freon, and asbestos.00:53:16
And each time, we did the research00:53:18
and made the right decision
to phase these chemicals out.00:53:21
With PFAS, we're just starting
to understand the problem.00:53:24
But I'm hopeful we'll make
the same decision again.00:53:30
If you want to inform
yourself more about PFAS,00:53:33
we've attached all the sources we've used00:53:35
to make this video down
in the description.00:53:37
It's actually our longest episode ever,00:53:39
and we couldn't have made it00:53:41
without the help of our
sponsor, Ground News.00:53:43
So if you wanna be more informed00:53:45
about the issues around the
world that are affecting you00:53:47
and everyone else out there,00:53:49
go to ground.news/ve or use this QR code.00:53:52
I really wanna thank Ground
News for sponsoring this video,00:53:55
and I wanna thank you for watching.Description:
The history of Teflon and exposing the biggest chemical cover up in history - that has polluted the entire global water system and led to potentially dangerous forever chemicals being found in the entire US population. Go to https://ground.news/landingV8/veritasium to see through media misconceptions and get all sides of every story. Subscribe to save 40% off the unlimited Vantage Plan access through our link. If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://snatoms.com/ ▀▀▀ 0:00 Killed by Fridges 5:27 Teflon and The Manhattan Project 7:59 Teflon is Tricky 11:37 The Teflon Revolution 13:27 Earl Tennant's Farm 17:34 Inside DuPont 20:28 Fluoride In Drinking Water 25:00 It's bigger than that 29:23 What is PFAS? 35:56 What is in Derek’s blood? 37:56 How forever chemicals get into your blood 46:18 Removing PFAS from water 49:30 Can you lower your PFAS levels? ▀▀▀ A huge thank you to Rob Billot for his time and expertise. Check out his fantastic book: Bilott, R. (2019). Exposure. Simon and Schuster - https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Exposure/Robert-Bilott/9781471189630 Rob's story also inspired the 2019 film Dark Waters. Thank you to Doctor Mike for giving us a medical perspective on PFAS! Check him out at @DoctorMike Thank you to Henrik Haggeman and the Puraffinity team, as well as Andrew Patterson and Eurofins, for doing the PFAS testing. Thank you to Leslie Hamilton, Johns Hopkins APL, Alex Conrad, Imperial College London, Jana Avgustini, and Matija Krvavica for their help on the project. ▀▀▀ PFAS Tools: PFAS Blood Test - https://empowerdxlab.com/products/product/pfas-16-test-legacy-compounds What's My Exposure? via www-pfas.pfas-exchange.org - https://ve42.co/myexposure Serum PFAS Calculator via ics.uci.edu - https://ics.uci.edu/~sbartell/pfascalc.html Interactive Map: PFAS Contamination Crisis via www.ewg.org - https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/ The Map of Forever Pollution via foreverpollution.eu - https://foreverpollution.eu/map/ Australian PFAS Chemicals Map via pfas.australianmap.net - https://pfas.australianmap.net/ ▀▀▀ References: References can be found here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dh15PQJ-LhrkE0LXIT_s4HNW8zo3IxF3nEEcy4fU_SI/edit?usp=sharing Images & Video: Image and video references can be found here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/13nUZ1GAADeiSxQNUBDMCNThCDgyQGO-grvN_QAjB80E/edit?usp=sharing 3D Models: "Low Poly Base Mesh-530 Tri" (https://sketchfab.com/s/onsxe) by Huge_Man "Blood Vessel" (https://sketchfab.com/s/owhjx) by IMU University “Generic Factory” (https://sketchfab.com/s/onqpr) by assetfactory "Lowpoly People + Waldo" (https://sketchfab.com/s/6zqce) by Loïc Norgeot PFOA Molecule via PubChem - https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Perfluorooctanoic-acid ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, iRick, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, Keith England, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Samuel White, TTST, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, wolfee ▀▀▀ Writers: Gregor Čavlović & Derek Muller Producer & Director: Gregor Čavlović Editors: Peter Nelson & Jack Saxon Camera Operators: Tas Underwood, Emilia Gyles, Gregor Čavlović & Derek Muller Animators: Andrew Neet, Emma Wright & Fabio Albertelli Illustrators: Caine Esperanza, Jakub Misiek & Maria Gusakovich Assistant Editor: James Stuart Additional Editor: James Horsley Researchers: Geeta Thakur, Darius Garewal, Gabe Strong & Emilia Gyles Thumbnail Designers: Ren Hurley & Ben Powell Production Team: Rob Beasley Spence, Tori Brittain, Casper Mebius & Sulli Yost Executive Producers: Derek Muller & Zoe Heron Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Pond5. Music from Epidemic Sound
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