Chestnut Hill Local, Oct. 15, \u201cPa. issues \u2018do not eat\u2019 advisory, cancels Wissahickon trout stocking.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\nThat\u2019s now our reality.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania issued a \u201cDo Not Eat\u201d advisory for all fish caught in the Wissahickon Creek and its tributaries after testing revealed elevated levels of PFOS, one of a group of toxic substances known as PFAS, or \u201cforever chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission also canceled a planned trout stocking in the creek because of the contamination.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the problem goes far beyond the Wissahickon.<\/p>\n
A new report released by PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center and its partners found PFAS in 96% of Pennsylvania waterways tested and 91% of those tested in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re being honest, nobody was lining up to drink straight from the creek. But knowing our rivers and streams are contaminated with these dangerous \u201cforever chemicals\u201d is disturbing.<\/p>\n
As a lifelong Philadelphian, healthcare provider and state representative, I believe these findings should be a wake-up call for Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
PFAS are called forever chemicals because they break down extremely slowly in the environment. They can accumulate in our bodies, waterways, soil and wildlife.<\/p>\n
As a nurse practitioner, I spend most of my shifts helping people manage illnesses that might have been prevented. I know that exposure to certain PFAS has been linked to cancer, elevated cholesterol, weakened immune responses, pregnancy complications and developmental problems in kids.<\/p>\n
We need to stop bearing the consequences of this pollution and start stopping it at the source.<\/p>\n
We already know many of the ways these chemicals enter our environment, including consumer products, firefighting foam, industrial discharges and contaminated sewage sludge spread on farmland. And we already have solutions.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I\u2019m helping lead legislation to ban PFAS-containing pesticides when safer alternatives are available. I\u2019m also a co-prime sponsor of House Bill 2145, bipartisan legislation led by Rep. Greg Scott that would ban PFAS in certain everyday products, including cosmetics, dental floss, menstrual products and children\u2019s products. It passed the Pennsylvania House by an overwhelming 188-13 vote.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also a co-sponsor of House Bill 1261, bipartisan legislation by Reps. Brian Munroe and Zach Mako to phase out PFAS-containing firefighting foam. Similar legislation recently passed the state Senate 48-1.<\/p>\n
Protecting our families from forever chemicals isn\u2019t a Democratic or Republican issue. There\u2019s overwhelming bipartisan agreement that we need to act.<\/p>\n
We need to investigate whether industrial polluters upstream are contributing to the contamination, and hold anyone breaking the law accountable. We also need to address PFAS in sewage sludge that\u2019s spread on Pennsylvania farmland as fertilizer. Our Department of Environmental Protection is working on new restrictions, but the proposed approach focuses on just a small fraction of the thousands of PFAS chemicals. We need stronger, more comprehensive protections to keep these chemicals out of our soil, water, and food.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania has a proud industrial history, and we can continue supporting good jobs without sacrificing clean water or public health. These things aren\u2019t mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n
Clean water shouldn\u2019t be a luxury. And pollution shouldn\u2019t be the price of doing business.<\/p>\n
\u201cA River Runs Through It\u201d was set nearly a century ago. But my kids and yours deserve those same simple joys of fishing and being out in nature, without having to worry about being poisoned by toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n
Tarik Khan is a Democrat who represents the state\u2019s 194th District, including Chestnut Hill, East Falls, Manayunk, Roxborough and Wissahickon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by State Rep. Tarik Khan – Growing up, one of my favorite movies was \u201cA River Runs Through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-311579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}