Of course, much of the decline in global human population that is now projected to occur by the end of the century can be attributed to the increased education of women and growing acceptance of birth control practices.
Declining fertility is already contributing to the extinction crisis among wildlife, likely on a bigger scale than the already observed effects of DDT on the eggs of many bird species including bald eagles. Researchers say numerous synthetic chemicals that can disrupt the hormone systems involved in human and animal reproduction are to blame. And some women in their twenties are now seeing declines in the vitality of their eggs that used to be common for women in their thirties. In fact fertility rates are dropping in many parts of the world, including the United States where the sperm counts of men are now half of what they were in 1970. One reason is sharply declining fertility rates in China. You may have noticed China recently announced couples can now have as many as three children, after having already reversed its one child policy to allow two. In today’s broadcast you are going to hear about a massive threat to human and other animal life on earth that few people are talking about yet. It has taken the EPA up to five years to determine if it’s going to regulate contaminants under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and additional time on top of that to develop the limits.CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. A timeline on when new limits could be put in place is unclear. Yahoo News: EPA Considers Placing Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water - The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it’s considering drinking water limits for the entire class of PFAS compounds. The documents are heavily redacted because the agency allows companies to invoke trade-secret claims to keep basic information on new chemicals from public release. Approved Toxic Chemicals for Fracking a Decade Ago, New Files Show - The EPA in 2011 approved the use of PFAS to ease the flow of oil from the ground despite the agency’s own grave concerns about their toxicity, according to the documents reviewed by The New York Times. Delaware County is pursuing legal action against more than two dozen companies it accuses of polluting its groundwater through the use of its products containing PFAS. Pennsylvania Record: Delaware County’s Hired Guns Will Receive 25% of Recovery in PFAS Case - According to records obtained by the Pennsylvania Record through an Open Public Records Act request, private counsel representing the County will receive a 25 percent contingency fee from any damages recovered in the case. The companies will pay for environmental restoration, improvement, sampling and analysis, community environmental justice and equity grants, and other natural resource needs, the department said. The San Diego Tribune: DuPont, Spinoffs to Pay $50M for ‘Forever Chemical’ Cleanup - The settlement is the result of an investigation led by the attorney general’s office into the environmental impacts of legacy industrial activities in Delaware. Whether such a designation comes earlier or later, it is clear that such designation could bring on an array of EPA actions and additional costs. JD Supra: CERCLA – One Potential Landing Spot for Regulation of PFAS - The PFAS Action Act of 2021 has the potential to greatly expand the scope of investigation and remediation under CERCLA by imposing an aggressive one-year schedule to designate PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” and a five-year schedule to review all PFAS chemicals for potential designation.
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