By, "Old School," I mean bloodletting, the technique likely responsible for the death of George Washington.
To be fair, there are therapeutic uses for the procedure, such as the treatment of excessive levels of iron in the body, and, in this case, excessive levels of the PFAS family of chemicals in their systems.
These chemicals, popularly called, "Forever Chemicals," accumulate in the body for a very long time, and so the treatment is to repeatedly remove blood until the levels are low enough.
Rather unsurprisingly, the victims in this case are in New Jersey:
Residents of Jersey have been recommended bloodletting to reduce high concentrations of “forever chemicals” in their blood after tests showed some islanders have levels that can lead to health problems.
Private drinking water supplies in Jersey were polluted by the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) at the island’s airport, which were manufactured by the US multinational 3M.
PFAS, a family of more than 10,000 chemicals, can build up in the body and are linked to conditions such as kidney and bladder cancer, thyroid disease and immune deficiency.
Bloodletting draws blood from a vein in measured amounts. It is safe and the body replenishes the blood naturally, but it must be repeated until clean.
“I just want this out of my body. I don’t want to end up with bladder cancer,” said Sarah Simon, one of 88 residents of the polluted area in whose blood tests found high levels of PFAS.………
Worried about their health as a result of the mains water findings, more than 100 residents outside the plume area had their blood independently tested. The unverified results showed that 57% had levels of PFHxS above US safety thresholds and 15% exceeded levels for PFOS. Many reported health problems they thought could be linked to PFAS exposure.
Everything old is new again, I guess.
0 comments :
Post a Comment