 There are a group of poisons Threatening our precious communities in both Vermont and across the nation They're spreading through our environment in the water we drink the lakes and rivers with swimming fish in and the soil from which our food grows This has been one of the best kept unethical secrets in the history of this country in terms of the Contamination and poisoning that they've been doing the US Environmental Protection Agency is targeting PFAS chemicals And it's new proposal for a national drinking water standard PFAS are toxic chemicals linked to serious diseases like O Cancer liver damage and thyroid disease and guess what they never ever ever degrade in fact They're known as forever chemicals. They're so prevalent CDC scientists believe PFAS chemicals are in the bloodstreams of nearly all Americans PFAS or PFAS are poly fluoro alkyl substances or per fluoro alkyl substances. They're also known as Forever chemicals because they are pretty persistent in the environment PFAS chemicals were first discovered in 1938 Accidentally actually by Dupont scientists. They were used a few years later in the Manhattan project and some of the uranium research And once that was declassified they became more prevalent in consumer goods the environmental watchdog group found forever chemicals or PFAS and drinking water in some 31 states you'll find them in the lining of typical takeout containers and pizza boxes But the toxins in the packaging can transfer into food the food and drug administration just found substantial levels in some Grocery store meats and seafood and they found even higher levels in chocolate cake that can be bought off the shelf These poisons called PFAS are more than 5,000 man-made toxic chemicals and they're found in fire resistant products and Products that repel oil stain grease and water especially with Non-stick cookware and most notably firefighting foam. They are literally everywhere in our home. I Am Patricia Hines a retired professor of environmental health from Boston University PFAS chemicals circle through the web of life into water soil plants insects fish wildlife and humans Continuously and because they do not degrade they bioconcentrate in each part of the web researchers have found evidence recently That one half of facial skin cosmetics contain PFAS We excrete some through urine and feces, but slowly and thus it builds up in our bodies Normally it would appear as a white foam almost looking like laundry detergent But today with the rain, it's definitely grayer and flattened out it could have been coming from the Air force base the Vermont Air National Guard Downstream here, which is where we are downstream from the airport and the Air National Guard Very unattractive and it's highly poisonous Children and adults should not be swimming in this water a recent study of 50 breast milk samples found PFAS contamination present in all of the samples tested and In the worst cases at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the one part per trillion levels some public health advocates advise is safe We do know that PFAS is here in Vermont In fact studies have shown that we have PFAS at six military sites here Green Mountain boys the Air National Guard the Army National Guard which is over there and also at 12 landfills five industrial sites in at least one airport PFAS travels through the air through water and through the soil And we know for example that the PFAS that was used here by the Air National Guard To put out fires here at the airport Traveled down to the Winooski River, which is over there And down the Winooski River into Lake Champlain and from Lake Champlain All the way up into Canada and the St. Lawrence. So PFAS does not respect national or State boundaries and what the PFAS that's here could end up almost anywhere and it's bio Accumulating and fish and Vermont has not tested the river water or the fish and wildlife here to know how much Contamination we're dealing with and how dangerous the problem is These poisons are very dangerous for your health. They are responsible for many conditions such as testicular and other cancers and fertility with men and women Exposure to PFAS can also lead to high cholesterol high pretension learning and developmental disabilities with children So what we need is to Regulate PFAS at a national level as a class of chemicals that are considered toxic And should not be used in any products that are bought by Citizens of the United States and I go as far as the world and and the world is starting to look at PFAS And we also need to hold the industry and the military accountable for the fact that they have known that PFAS is dangerous for Many many many years. In fact the most recent study by the DOD Showed that they knew that PFAS was harming their own military members in the service and in the core and those who lived in the community surrounding military bases and we need to Create class action funds so that people who have been affected by these chemicals can get testing and health care To very very important factors My name is Hannah Kylie I'm an intern for the military Poisons Coalition to learn more information about PFAS You can visit our website at www.militarypoisons.org or you can visit us on Facebook at Vermont Military Poisons Project Join our coalition to end PFAS in Vermont