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#toxic

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#toxic stuff:
Recently, my shaver broke, and for situations like this, I had an older electric shaver in a box. Which... also didn't work any more, so that didn't help. But curiously, I noted that the older shaver still had a Nickel Cadmium battery. Which is... one of the many toxic things we used to have around us, and we no longer have. and I think this is an underappreciated fact and a success of reasonable regulation. 🧵

All sorts of #toxic materials are released into the #atmosphere when buildings and their contents #burn. It's why one sees urban #firefighters donning breathing apparatus. #Wildlands adjacent to the Los Angeles basin also contain #mercury and #lead in #soil and litter layers, deposited over many years from #air #pollution generated by vehicles and industries. #Wildfires often emit these heavy metals.

nytimes.com/2025/03/28/well/la

The New York Times · L.A. Firefighters Who Fought Blazes Show Elevated Mercury and Lead LevelsBy Maggie Astor
Continued thread

#Wildfires, including the #EatonFire & #PalisadesFire, have significant repercussions on #marine #ecosystems. The ash & debris from these fires can enter waterways & eventually the #ocean, altering nutrient levels & fostering conditions favorable to the growth of harmful #AlgalBlooms. The #toxic byproducts from these fires can exacerbate #OceanWarming, further promoting the frequency of these toxic blooms. This can lead to increased production of #DomoicAcid.

#US #wildfire suppressants rife with #toxic #heavymetals
Study reveals widely used pink wildfire suppressants contain high levels of toxic heavy metals: #cadmium, #arsenic, and #chromium, concentrations up to 3,000x above #drinkingwater limits. While gov and chemical makers have long concealed up to 20% of suppressants' ingredients as "trade secrets" researchers have confirmed their role in environmental #pollution, raising concerns over extensive use in residential areas
theguardian.com/us-news/2025/f

The Guardian · US wildfire suppressants rife with toxic heavy metals, study findsBy Tom Perkins

#Aluminum is a ubiquitous material that promises ease and convenience. But the #extraction of its raw material, #bauxite, and its processing into aluminum destroy vast tracts of old-growth #forest. The energy-intensive production of aluminum typically relies on powerful #hydroelectric dams that often flood the lands of #Indigenous communities. Red mud, a #toxic waste product of aluminum refining, is a serious environmental hazard.

rainforest-rescue.org/topics/a

Oh boy, "toxic empathy." The idea that #empathy, one of the most humane of human emotions, is inherently #toxic could only be sustained by someone (or several someones) so profoundly narcissistic as to never have felt empathy and to have no need or regard for it.

Great article about #BigAg...

riverraccoon.substack.com/p/se

"Water from the #RedRiver flows through #LakeWinnipeg on its journey to #HudsonBay. Lake Winnipeg is huge—the world’s 11th largest freshwater lake by surface area (even larger than Lake Ontario and about the same as Lake Erie) and has the world’s largest ‘lakeshed’, i.e. area of land draining to a lake. It supports a large commercial and sport fishery for several fish species including walleye, which are a peculiar green color there due to the mineral content of the water."

"The #water_quality in Lake Winnipeg is tanking because of “rapidly increased #livestock production and use of synthetic #fertilizer in the Red River Valley, with smaller contributions of phosphorus from the city of Winnipeg and other human development in the Red and Winnipeg River basins .” Nutrient-driven #toxic #algae blooms have doubled in size since the 1990s due to increases in Red River phosphorus levels, a common component of livestock manure."

#Bayer has lobbied successfully to get #GOP legislators in #DJT era to sponsor #GagAct bills in Midwestern states #Idaho, #Iowa, and #Missouri to legislatively silence victims of #Glysophosphate #herbicides aka #RoundUp.

Those consumers who contracted cancers after exposure would be prevented from publicly voicing concerns or filing #legal actions to address a #toxic poisoning.

levernews.com/the-cancer-gag-a

The Lever · The Cancer Gag Act Of 2025The chemical maker behind Roundup weed killer is lobbying the government to unilaterally block cancer victims from suing them.