Hi I'm a chemist, my current work is with PFAS compounds, often known as forever chemicals. Please ask me about those, or anything else you are curious about related to chemistry. I will try to give you a solid response.

  • HoChiMaxh [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    When people use that stat that PFOA is found in 99% of organisms on Earth, what concentration are we talking here? I remember my analytical prof saying once that at a low enough concentration (I think he was saying like the picomolar range) basically everything is in everything.

    Follow up - how does the concentration level relate to the level we assume is dangerous to organisms?

    • HoChiMaxh [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Follow up #2: to what degree is there someone at the wheel when it comes to guarding consumers against industrial poisons? I got pretty blackpilled after watching Dark Water, but realized I don't really have any sense about the capture of (or existence of) global oversight on this sort of thing.

      I don't live in the US but I bought some BBQ tongs and then I found a little sticker that said they could cause cancer with a California regulation ID on it. I sent a pic to some friends in the US and they just rolled their eyes like "yeah California is overboard with cautionary labeling" - is California doing it right and everyone else is fucked? What's your take on this kind of thing?

      • jkfjfhkdfgdfb [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        isn't that an op to make people disregard those labels altogether by overusing them