So people kind of knew asbestos was harmful wayyy before it mostly stopped being used in 1979 (USA). But, it was still used constantly in many industries and ended up everywhere. What do you think is an example of something we find out is DRASTICALLY harmful 10-50 years from now? My guess would be screen time.

    • tomiant@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      It’s bad. It gets easily absorbed by the skin and fucks with your hormone system. It’s in all kinds of stuff- non stick pans, can linings, receipts you get at the supermarket, consumer electronics, earbuds (bad to have stuck straight into your brain in the fine membranes and capillaries of the ear canal), LOTS of clothes (basically all plastic derivatives they mix in).

      With clothes or shoes and so on, if you go to an outlet and touch a PFAS coated fabric, you’ll get this thin sickly little film of oil on your fingers. That gets absorbed straight through the skin, and also now it gets on everything you touch, your face, the food you eat…

    • huquad@lemmy.mlEnglish
      30·
      11 days ago

      That’s the problem, the main people who do are the companies profiting. Something something conflict of interest

          • tomiant@piefed.socialEnglish
            1·
            1 day ago

            Consequences are well understood in that they are bad and have long term effects on your hormone regulation.

            One study showed teen girls in Copenhagen develop breasts a whole year earlier than during the 80s-90s, and it was directly shown to be the effect of PFAS in our consumer environment for lack of a better word.

            It was a big thing, EU made lots of regulations about it. I know in an adjacent country they banned use of thermal receipts (normal receipts you get in the store) and some other measures. Don’t know what came of it long term but I stay very aware about what I touch in stores and stuff I buy.

      • huquad@lemmy.mlEnglish
        6·
        11 days ago

        Isn’t Teflon itself fine though? My understanding was it was the chemicals used during manufacturing of Teflon that were the problem.

        You can also get some ill effects if you exceed temp limits

        • scutiger@lemmy.world
          11·
          11 days ago

          Teflon itself is technically “fine” if you ignore that it’s a forever chemical on its own. The chemicals used in the manufacturing, and the chemicals used to make a notoriously non-stick material stick to things are the big issues.

          But like the other commenter said, even Teflon, despite its hydrophobic and non-stick properties, eventually wears out and spreads micro particles everywhere.

        • over_clox@lemmy.world
          9·
          11 days ago

          Everything wears out, regardless of temperature. Sure Teflon lasts a good long time as long as certain temperatures aren’t exceeded, but even at room temperature/dishwashing temperature, particles of those molecules are still gonna wear off, and they don’t just randomly vanish.

          What’s that stink you smell out of your vacuum cleaner? Well yeah, lots of dust and dead skin cells and such, but also all the other toxic debris gradually wearing away from our household items and whatnot…

          • tomiant@piefed.socialEnglish
            2·
            1 day ago

            And teflon scratches easy, and then you eat all the tiny little flakes every time you cook. Teflon is especially super bad, very carcinogenic.

            I hate it, I don’t use it unless absolutely necessary. I make do with steel and cast iron. Nothing is worth having permanently contaminated food, day in day out, over years and decades.

        • BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip
          2·
          11 days ago

          This is about right. Teflon (PTFE) itself is mostly harmless to humans because you aren’t likely to consume large enough amounts or small enough particles of Teflon for it to enter your bloodstream.

          Other PFAS like PFOA, PFOS, PFHXS, and PFNA, which are the kind you would find used to coat the inside of a popcorn bag to keep the butter off the bag, are commonly found in human blood and have been linked to negative health outcomes in humans.