David Andrews, Senior Scientist, Environmental Working Group
CBS News Report
Chemicals that are potentially harmful to your health were found in drinking water in 43 states, according to a new study by the Environmental Working Group. David Andrews, a senior scientist with EWG, joins CBSN to discuss what people should know.
Video Transcript:
0:00
a new study reveals a chemical that can
0:07
be harmful to your health is found in
0:10
water in 43 states the Environmental
0:13
Working Group says PSAs which are
0:16
chemicals used in consumer products like
0:18
firefighting foam and nonstick cookware
0:20
can be found in 610 locations across the
0:23
country and that includes drinking water
0:25
for about 19 million people for more on
0:27
this now we’re doing joined rather by
0:29
David Andrews a senior scientist for the
0:31
Environmental Working Group so I read
0:34
sort of the article on this report and
0:37
it is scary because we’re talking about
0:39
a problem basically across the country
0:41
David how significant are the results of
0:43
this study well this is this should be
0:46
frightening to all Americans in many
0:48
ways because these chemicals these are
0:50
the Teflon or Scotch coated chemicals as
0:52
you mentioned they’re common in
0:53
firefighting foam they’re their stain
0:56
repellent but they don’t break down in
0:57
the body and they don’t break down in
0:59
the environment and they actually stick
1:01
to our blood so levels tend to increase
1:03
over time so then are we seeing levels
1:08
within our bodies are we finding
1:10
children with this stuff in them and how
1:12
could it potentially affect our health
1:14
how is it affecting our health right
1:15
these chemicals are actually found in
1:18
everyone in dissent in the United States
1:20
just about everyone in the entire world
1:22
and and exposure to these chemicals
1:24
really can connect a lot of different
1:27
health systems cause numerous health
1:29
harms everything from testicular to
1:31
kidney cancer harm to the liver harm to
1:34
the thyroid it actually impacts
1:38
childhood development low birth weight
1:40
and it actually can impact the immune
1:42
system and reduce the effectiveness of
1:45
vaccines so it’s really actually
1:46
frightening how many different health
1:49
systems different organs these chemicals
1:52
can cause harm to is this the sort of
1:55
thing that can be filtered out with a
1:56
Brita filter I know my refrigerator sort
1:59
of the water part of it comes with a
2:01
filter does that do these filters make
2:03
any sort of difference yeah that’s a
2:06
great question is actually a Brita type
2:07
filter will help a little bit so there’s
2:10
some hope there
2:11
if there is no contamination where you
2:13
are you may want to look into a more
2:16
comprehensive filter a reverse osmosis
2:18
filter but a carbon filter a Brita
2:20
filter that will actually help and will
2:22
reduce the levels typically so then
2:26
according to your report Michigan has
2:28
the most locations and you guys have
2:30
this great sort of interactive map where
2:32
you can check out your own state and see
2:34
the locations of concern and whether
2:36
we’re talking about a military base for
2:38
drinking water but Michigan has a
2:39
hundred ninety two locations in just
2:42
that one state is this because they have
2:44
more efforts to Tess is that they’re
2:46
testing these PFA is more there and so
2:49
they’re identifying the problem or is it
2:51
that they really do have more of a
2:53
problem than anywhere else this is so in
2:56
large part it’s because they’re
2:57
identifying the problem they’re really
2:59
getting ahead of other states and trying
3:01
to understand the scope and the
3:03
magnitude of this contamination and what
3:06
they found is that it’s much bigger than
3:07
they even expected and I think that’s a
3:09
result we’re gonna see across the
3:11
country as more states do additional
3:14
testing and so we’re actually supporting
3:16
a lot of legislation at state and
3:18
federal level to really understand the
3:21
scope of this problem and set legal
3:23
limits in drinking water we think
3:24
everyone has a right to safe and clean
3:26
drinking water that’s what I want to ask
3:28
you about I’m sure there’s no like
3:30
minimum level of like a safe number PFA
3:33
saying your drinking water but what’s
3:35
the FDA doing I mean are they keeping
