ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP

The Biden administration is asking a number of Trump-era holdovers on advisory boards at academies like West Point to resign or be removed.

If it seems like you’ve been hearing about lakes and beaches closing down more often, you’re right. Various types of toxic algae are multiplying like crazy in bodies of water across the country, and stopping them won’t be easy.

An environmental group has released a new analysis of Defense Department records that has found the groundwater of at least nine military installations near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia is contaminated with high levels of toxic “forever chemicals.”.

“We know that if you have higher levels, you’re more likely to have that suppression happening. It was led by environmental health researcher Philippe Grandjean, who has been studying links between PFAS exposure and vaccine uptake for years. His work is cited by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a statement acknowledging the potential intersection between PFAS exposure and COVID-19. “What we understand about COVID and PFAS effect on the immune system is that people with higher PFAS levels in their blood are at higher risk of immunotoxicity,” said DeWitt. The state is also launching an assessment of PFAS exposure in Oscoda, where contamination from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base has spread through water and wildlife.

It isnt clear how harmful some of these chemicals are if absorbed, but studies have found both oxybenzone and octinoxate in breast milk. Both Florida and Hawaii have placed restrictions on the use of the chemicals as both appear to damage coral reefs. The Environmental Working Group release an annual guide to sunscreens with safety ratings -- view it here. The CARES Act does require the FDA to provide new sunscreen regulations within 18 months. The FDA is expected to reintroduce the changes that we expected to see this year.

They lost their export market to China in retaliation for trade war tariffs and then watched most of the U.S. trade payments go to the largest farms. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue defended the program and, in particular, its large payments to big farms. "These payments aren't just going to farmers who are out there climbing up on a tractor every morning. "The stresses out there now four or five generations of their family and they're the ones that lost the farm? What do you think that's going to do to their mind?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The contamination of U.S. drinking water with man-made forever chemicals is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group. The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Its nearly impossible to avoid contaminated drinking water from these chemicals, said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the report. Everyones really exposed to a toxic soup of these PFAS chemicals, Andrews said. FILE PHOTO: People refill bottles at a water store in Temple City, California, United States March 4, 2016.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The contamination of U.S. drinking water with man-made forever chemicals is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group. FILE PHOTO: People refill bottles at a water store in Temple City, California, United States March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File PhotoThe chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Its nearly impossible to avoid contaminated drinking water from these chemicals, said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the report. Everyones really exposed to a toxic soup of these PFAS chemicals, Andrews said.

The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The contamination of U.S. drinking water with man-made "forever chemicals" is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group. "It's nearly impossible to avoid contaminated drinking water from these chemicals," said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the report. "Everyone's really exposed to a toxic soup of these PFAS chemicals," Andrews said. The EPA has known since at least 2001 about the problem of PFAS in drinking water but has so far failed to set an enforceable, nationwide legal limit.

iStock/Elenathewise(CNN) - Chemical contaminants were detected in water sources serving more than 7 million Californians, according to a new report by the Environmental Working Group. The nonprofit, which describes itself as "dedicated to protecting human health and the environment," found that water sources for 74 community water systems -- serving 7.5 million people in California -- have been contaminated with PFAS chemicals. The EPA issues drinking water advisories when PFAS levels are at or above 70 parts per trillion. Earlier this month, Denmark became the first country to ban PFAS chemicals. Gavin Newsom signed a law, to go into effect in 2020, allowing the state board to order public water systems to monitor for PFAS chemicals, and requiring community water systems to report detections.

Farm bailout payments designed to offset the impacts of President Trumps trade war have overwhelmingly flowed to the largest and most successful farmers, EWG said in a statement. It said the first round of payments had been linked to crop production, favoring the biggest producers of certain crops. A USDA spokeswoman said aid payments were made based on a producers individual production. The department has made changes to its new farm aid and said it would pay farmers according to geographic location rather than by crop. Negotiations to end the trade war restarted this week, but expectations for the two-day meeting are low.