PFAS Chemicals Found in Drinking Water in Dozens of Cities

Drinking water contamination with fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS may be more prevalent than previously reported, a new study suggested.
Dozens of cities throughout the country had per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — a group of man-made chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, and water — in their tap water, according to independent lab testing commissioned by the Washington watchdog organization Environmental Working Group (EWG).

“The results confirm that the number of Americans exposed to PFAS from contaminated tap water has been dramatically underestimated by previous studies,” Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs, said in a press briefing.
“Of the tap water samples taken from 44 places in 31 states and the District of Columbia, only one location had no detectable PFAS,” he added. “On average, six or seven different PFAS chemicals were detected in these samples. For 34 of the 44 places where the samples were taken, PFAS contamination was confirmed for the first time.”
CDC scientists have found four PFAS — PFOA, which was found in the Teflon chemical; PFOS, an ingredient formerly used in 3M’s Scotchgard; and two others — in the serum of nearly all people tested in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), indicating widespread exposure of these “forever chemicals” in the U.S. population.
PFAS are not regulated and utilities that have chosen to test independently are not required to make results public. While the EPA has set a guidance of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA and PFOS, many states, including New York, have proposed levels considerably lower.
“The EPA guidance for PFOA and PFOS were based on older studies in laboratory animals, yet, new epidemiological research studies — studies of actual people exposed to PFAS chemicals in their environment — show that PFAS chemicals are much more toxic than what EPA previously stated,” Olga Naidenko, PhD, vice president of EWG’s science investigations, told MedPage Today.

“The more the scientific community looks into PFAS and the more scientific data that emerges, the lower and lower the proposed drinking water levels are going,” said attorney Rob Bilott, who helped uncover health risks of PFOA contamination and wrote about this work in his book Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont.
“Sounding the alarm is important, but that is not enough,” said actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, who produced the movie Dark Waters about citizens of West Virginia who fought DuPont. Ruffalo played Rob Bilott in the film.
“We have not stopped industrial release of PFAS into the air and water,” Ruffalo said in the EWG press briefing. “We have not stopped PFAS from being used in food packaging, cookware, cosmetics, and other everyday consumer products. Nor have we cleaned up any legacy PFAS pollution. There is still no legal requirement to filter PFAS from tap water, so more than 100 million Americans are likely drinking water contaminated with PFAS.”
In the EWG study, 44 tap water samples were collected from May to December 2019 and analyzed by an accredited independent laboratory which used a modified version of EPA Method 537 to detect 30 different PFAS compounds. Overall PFAS detection limits were set at 1 ppt, and minimum levels were set for each of the 30 compounds.
Some of the highest PFAS levels detected were found in samples from major metropolitan areas, including Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City. PFOA and PFOS were found in 30 and 34 samples out of 44, respectively.

What this means for human health is unclear. “PFAS have been linked to numerous health conditions already, such as excess weight gain, poor bone health, diabetes, and certain types of cancer,” noted Qi Sun, MD, ScD, of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, who wasn’t involved with the EWG study.
And based on what we know from animal experiments, PFAS may be also linked to other conditions, Sun told MedPage Today.
“In addition, these chemicals exert adverse health consequences not only to adults, but to infants and children. However, we still need much evidence to substantiate or to establish the effects of PFAS on human health,” especially examining these chemicals in relation to risks of chronic conditions among people who initially are free of disease, Sun pointed out.
“With PFAS, the more scientists study this group of chemicals, the more data comes to light about their toxicity,” said Naidenko, adding that EWG would be conducting more tests for PFAS in drinking water later this year.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/environmentalhealth/84489

FDA signs off on study of Medtronic PFA system for atrial fibrillation

The FDA has notified Medtronic (MDT -0.3%) that it may proceed with a clinical trial ev

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3533983-fda-signs-off-on-study-of-medtronic-pfa-system-for-atrial-fibrillationaluating its PulseSelect Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) System for the potential treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

In September 2018, the FDA granted Breakthrough Device designation for the investigational PFA technology for the treatment of drug-refractory recurrent symptomatic AF.

PFA uses pulsed electric fields to ablate or create lesions and scar tissue to interrupt irregular electrical pathways in the heart and the triggers of AF. PFA is non-thermal and selectively targets cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) while avoiding other types of tissue.

China’s latest virus outbreak exposes perils of exotic wildlife trade

A new coronavirus spreading from the city of Wuhan has put a spotlight on China’s poorly regulated wild animal trade – driven by relentless demand for exotic delicacies and ingredients for traditional medicine.

China’s markets, where wild and often poached animals are packed together, have been described as a breeding ground for disease and an incubator for a multitude of viruses to evolve and jump the species barrier to humans.
More than 500 people have been infected by the new flu-like virus that authorities say emerged from illegally traded wildlife in a seafood market in the central Chinese city, with the death toll at 17 and expected to rise.
“The origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan seafood market,” Gao Fu, director of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing.
Preliminary research suggested that in the most recent stage of its evolution, the Wuhan virus was passed on to humans from snakes. But Chinese government medical adviser Zhong Nanshan has also identified badgers and rats as possible sources.

Conservationists and health experts have long denounced the trade in wildlife for its impact on biodiversity and the potential for spreading disease in markets.
“The animal welfare part of this is obvious, but much more hidden is this stashing and mixing of all these species together in a very small area, with secretions and urine mixed up together,” said Christian Walzer, executive director of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
China’s wet markets have already been blamed for outbreaks of other infectious diseases in China and southeast Asia, including the virus responsible for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people worldwide in 2003.
“The other thing you have to consider is that these animals are massively stressed in these cages so their immune systems fail very quickly,” said Walzer.
“It is a perfect system. You couldn’t do it any better if you tried,” Walzer said of the markets’ propensity to generate viruses.

MARKET FORCES

Photographs taken at the Wuhan market before it was closed at the end of last year show cages packed with snakes, porcupines and foxes. Media said about 50 types of wild animal were on sale at the market, including endangered pangolins.
According to a report by the China Business Journal, a state-owned paper that interviewed the sister of a vendor infected by the virus, snakes, ducks and wild rabbits were popular at the market.
Since the outbreak began, authorities in Wuhan and elsewhere have shut down markets, zoos and forest parks, suspended trade in live poultry and the trade and transport of wild animals, though residents in some areas said the measures appeared to be largely symbolic.
The southeastern province of Guangdong, where a wide variety of animals are sold, has long been regarded as a prime source of new diseases.
Scientists believe SARS was caused by cross-species transmission in the province – with the blame initially falling on masked palm civets, which are considered a delicacy.

Authorities slaughtered thousands of the animals although bats were later believed to have been the source of SARS.
After SARS, China tried to improve the way the animal trade is regulated. At the same time, authorities have tried to curb the poaching of exotic species and has a long list of officially protected wildlife.
But efforts to protect animals often lose out to generations of tradition.
Environmentalists have long campaigned for new laws to restrict the use of wild animals in Chinese medicine and to develop synthetic alternatives.
But many animal products are still easily available.
Snakes, peacocks and even crocodiles are on sale via Taobao, a Chinese e-commerce website run by Alibaba.

Reuters contacted an Inner Mongolia resident named Gong Jian who sells snake, camel, crocodile and deer meat via WeChat.
Given booming business, he said he was aiming to expand his online marketing.
“Customers really like the crocodile – they stew it,” he said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-wildlife/chinas-latest-virus-outbreak-exposes-perils-of-exotic-wildlife-trade-idUSKBN1ZM0PE

16 people under observation after contact with U.S. coronavirus patient

At least 16 people had close contact with a Washington state man diagnosed as the first U.S. case of the coronavirus and are being monitored for the illness that has killed 17 people in China and sickened hundreds more, local officials said.

The patient, a 30-year-old man, is doing well and may be released from Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington in the near future, the hospital’s chief medical officer Jay Cook told a press conference.
None of the people who were in close contact with the patient have displayed symptoms of the flu-like illness, said John Wiesman, secretary of health for Washington State.
“The risk to the general public remains low,” said Chris Spitters, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.
The man fell ill over the weekend after traveling to Wuhan, China, his hometown, in November and December and was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Monday.
The virus, which causes respiratory symptoms, has been linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, the largest city in central China.

“I would expect at some point we’re going to have more cases in the U.S.,” said Wiesman.
Passengers aboard the man’s flight from China are being contacted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state health authorities, said CDC Medical Officer Satish Pillai.
The CDC has raised its travel alert for Wuhan to a level 2, calling for enhanced precautions. All travelers from Wuhan are being directed to five U.S. airports – in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco – for screening.
The CDC is developing a test for the virus and hopes to start distributing it to state health departments, Pillai said.
Wiesman said people had to be within six feet of a person with the virus for a prolonged period to be deemed to have been in close contact.
People develop the virus after droplets from an infected person’s sneeze or cough fall on them, he said.

The 16 individuals under observation in Washington are not being asked to go into isolation unless they develop coronavirus symptoms, Wiesman said.
“We don’t believe you are infectious until you have symptoms,” he said, giving no further details on the locations of individuals who had been in close contact with the infected man.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa/16-people-under-observation-after-contact-with-u-s-coronavirus-patient-idUSKBN1ZM0S3

Avinger up on start of new artery treatment study

Enrollment is underway in a post-marketing trial, IMAGE-BTK, evaluating Avinger’s (NASDAQ:AVGR) Pantheris SV image-guided atherectomy system for the treatment of peripheral artery lesions below-the-knee (BTK).

The primary endpoint of the 60-subject study is the reduction in residual stenosis in target lesions on a standalone basis.

The company launched the device in the U.S. in Q3 2019.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3533909-avinger-up-4-premarket-on-start-of-new-pantheris-study

Evoke Pharma up on Gimoti deal in U.S

Thinly traded nano cap Evoke Pharma (NASDAQ:EVOK) perks up 10% premarket on modestly higher volume on the heels of its agreement with life sciences commercial services provider Eversana for the commercialization and distribution of Gimoti (metoclopramide) nasal spray in the U.S.

Under the terms of the deal, EVOK will reimburse Eversana for certain costs and a percentage of profits (mid-to-high teens) after Gimoti sales surpass a certain level. Eversana has also agreed to provide a credit revolver to EVOK up to $5M.

Its marketing application for adult women with acute or recurrent diabetic gastroparesis is currently under FDA review with an action date of June 19.

EVOK and Novos Growth Partners have mutually agreed to terminate their commercialization agreement inked a year ago.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3533947-evoke-pharma-up-10-premarket-on-gimoti-deal-in-u-s

Moderna nabs funding to make vaccine against China coronavirus

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a public-private coalition aimed at accelerating the development of vaccines, has agreed to fund the manufacture of Moderna’s (MRNA -1.8%) mRNA vaccine against the coronavirus causing the outbreak in China, named 2019-nCoV.

NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Moderna’s collaborator on the design of the vaccine, will conduct IND-enabling studies as well as a Phase 1 clinical trial.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3533957-moderna-nabs-funding-to-make-vaccine-against-china-coronavirus