Samples from a water treatment plant in Wilmette, Illinois, contained toxic PFAS chemicals at levels up to 600 times higher than the EPA's latest health advisory.Erin Hooley/TNS/ZUMA
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This story was originally published by WIRED and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
In 2021, James Kenney and his husband were at a big box store buying a piece of furniture when the sales associate asked if they’d like to add fabric protectant. Kenney, the cabinet secretary of New Mexico’s Environment Department, asked to see the product data sheet. Both he and his husband were shocked to see forever chemicals listed as ingredients in the protectant.
“I think about your normal, everyday New Mexican who is trying to get by, make their furniture last a little longer, and they think, ‘Oh, it’s safe, great!’ It’s not safe,” he says. “It just so happens that they tried to sell it to the environment secretary.”
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