A Concerned Scientist @BE@qoto.org
Moved full time to my other account @BE soon as this instance is still having issues.
Joined Nov 2022
A Concerned Scientist
boosted
Ugh. Friend who's avoided COVID this whole time took one really big really dumb risk and caught it.
She's not getting better and can barely walk.
A Concerned Scientist
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Last week: The Texas Observer and Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting have found that armed vigilantes have forged relationships with local and federal law enforcement—ties that appear to elevate risks of violence in already volatile #border regions. https://www.texasobserver.org/border-vigilantes-law-enforcement-texas-arizona/
#politics #news #USpol #Mexico #Arizona #Texas #SouthTexas #immigration #police
A Concerned Scientist
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Note:
Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas all had their warmest spring night on records !
While Georgia and South Carolina missed it by 1F.
Why are records of high minimums so widespread and overnumber the records of high maxes ?
RECORD WARM WATER is KEY.
The Atlantic-Caribbean-Gulf of Mexico area anomaly is outstanding and records are a direct consequence, specially of high minimums.
A Concerned Scientist
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🔗 Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Cosmetics https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas-cosmetics
> Consumers of cosmetics who want to avoid PFAS should become familiar with reading the label on cosmetic products. The label of a cosmetic product sold on a retail basis must declare the ingredients in descending order of predominance. Based on information available to FDA, some common PFAS ingredients found in cosmetics include perfluorohexylethyl triethoxysilane, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetradecyl aminobutyroylvalylaminobutyric urea trifluoroacetate, trifluoropropyl cyclotetrasiloxane, and trifluoropropyl cyclopentasiloxane.
A Concerned Scientist
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US dairy cows are tip of the iceberg as bird flu spreads in mammals globally, says ecologist https://phys.org/news/2024-05-dairy-cows-iceberg-bird-flu.html #science
A Concerned Scientist
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May 24, 2024-“Neurodevelopmental delay in children exposed to maternal SARS-CoV-2 in-utero” “The higher frequency of abnormal scores were in language and fine motor domains.” - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-61918-2
A Concerned Scientist
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Flooding, 3ft of hail, record breaking heat, forest fires and smoke, water shortages, and drought. A relentless heatwave with no historical precedent pushes the limits of survivability in Mexico. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/26/2242853/-A-relentless-heatwave-with-no-historical-precedent-pushes-the-limits-of-survivability-in-Mexico?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
A Concerned Scientist
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News: “Storms are increasing in frequency and intensity, tornadoes are striking in areas not normally hit, people are dying.”
People: Climate change isn’t real.
People: “Jeez, everyone just seems sick all the time. My kids have been coughing since last year, I have this weird tingling in my hands for some reason, and I can’t remember shit.”
Same people: “Covid is just a cold. I’ve had it four times with no ill effects whatsoever.”
People suck
I've got a few DMs overnight asking about PFAs in masks, and so rather than discuss it all in private, here's my thoughts.
In short:
Yes. Some masks will test positive for PFAs.
No. I don't think it's a big concern.
Here's why. The spreadsheet going around about 3M products, at least the version I've seen, absolutely does list the Aura and some of their filters for some of their reusable masks like the 6503, which I own and use, but in extremely tiny amounts. A cup of water from your sink, unfiltered, probably has more than your mask.
You're, probably, talking tiny amounts that are due to manufacturing. Do I trust 3M about that? No. From professional and personal experience I wouldn't trust 3M if they told me the sky was blue. Don't trust them about anything. Would it surprise me if I later found out that they soaked the Aura in PFAs for a week to make sure it didn't get wet? No. There are some true believers in PFAs in that company who think they're the greatest thing and should be on everything. Do I think that's what's going on? No.
If I found out that they did, in fact, soak them, would I avoid them? Of course. But that doesn't mean you stop masking. Even if EVERY mask in the world tested positive for PFAs, I'd pick my poison and mask up when I needed to.
But, really, manufacturing is a real problem for trace amounts of PFAs. They're everywhere. I once knew a guy who fixed manufacturing machines. He worked for a big company and had a multi-state region where he just travelled around and fixed machines on manufacturing lines when they went down. Back before people worried about PFAs much, he had an SOP he followed, and the last step on most things was to spray the parts he replaced down with a PFA spray. Why? Because it kept grease out of the product on the line. Everything coming off of those manufacturing lines would have some trace of PFAs on them, even though the company who was responsible for the products had no idea.
This hasn't really gotten any better since. Supply chains are absolutely riddled with PFAs. Even companies trying their absolute best have very little control over it in the end.
The paper that's often cited about masks and PFAs is the following, and I believe it's really the only one.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00019
What you have to realize about this is that if you dig into the supplementary info, there was *some* PFA contamination on the N95 they tested. But the vast majority of it was on "RC-1" through "RC-6", and "FF". RC here stands for reusable cloth, and the FF is a mask designed for, and marketed to, firefighters.
Let's deal with the firefighter's one first. Firefighters are, unfortunately, laden with PFAs. Firefighting foams for Class B fires are basically PFA foams. While they're being phased out, they still exist. Firefighting equipment then is often soaked in PFAs. I assume the mask in the study for firefighters is soaked in PFAs for some fire resistance.
Now, the reusable cloth masks. I hope no one's using those today. But, let's stop and think this through for a moment. If cloth masks have PFAs, what does that say about my clothes? I hate to tell you, but, a lot of clothes have PFAs.
Yes, so does bedding. Carpets. Paints. The seats in your car.
I've had a series of revelations in my life through my research. In the 90's and the following decades I removed everything that I could that off gassed VOCs. Then I removed plastics. Then I got rid of everything that I could find that had PFAs.
Proportionally, the first two weren't that hard. PFAs are damn near impossible.
So what do you really need to focus on? *Not ingesting them*. I think that's intuitively clear. Sure, you don't want to touch poison, but you REALLY don't want to pour a glass of it and drink it, right?
In order of most important:
Clean your water. I think I've discussed this ad nauseam and everyone's probably tired of it.
Remove it from your food sources. Yes, the FDA banned it from food packaging in February, but that doesn't take effect until around 2026. When I worked in the national lab system you know what we called that? Not today's problem. Because anything that was funded or unfunded during the next presidential administration was just as likely to happen as not happen in the end.
Look out for cosmetics. If not ingesting it is the main goal, not rubbing it on yourself everyday is the next goal.
A Concerned Scientist
boosted
I’m immune compromised - would you mask for me?
“No! Stay home forever!”
I can’t stay home I need food - can I order in?
“Do it yourself! It’s entitled and privileged to get delivery! SURELY you can use a microwave!”
I’ve got a family member to help me.
“Don’t be a burden!”
I need the hospital so I’m going to wear a respirator.
“Haha that’s illegal now!”
This is genuinely how it feels to be a high risk disabled person in society right now. It’s not enough that the loudest voices won and governments basically dismantled all covid protections, reporting tools, testing etc… they still scream at us for trying to protect ourselves. We stay home and rely on gig economy & delivery services and we’re exploiting others. We ask people to mask and we’re tyrants. We try to mask ourselves and we’re mocked and teased and now at least one US State is actively trying to criminalize medical masks.
Yet whenever I bring up eugenics I’m shouted down and told I’m exaggerating - despite the fact that a large portion of society very clearly doesn’t want disabled people to survive (and they certainly won’t lift a finger to help us).
It feels terribly bleak and I wish the “my freedom” crowd would recognize that disabled people are the canaries in the coal mine. Governments won’t stop with us. We’re just unlucky enough to be first.
#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #Eugenics #MaskBan
A Concerned Scientist
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If you're promoting events that gather people unmasked, you are infecting people. You. You are responsible. #CovidIsNotOver #WearAMask
A Concerned Scientist
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N95 masks are good for so much stuff! I’m at my friends’ outdoor party giving pets and scritches to their beautiful huskies, with no allergy concerns! 🥰
A Concerned Scientist
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Still sulking about all of that "protect the healthcare system" rhetoric that meant NOTHING. Those same healthcare workers are now refusing to mask, so I can't access safe healthcare. #Covid
A Concerned Scientist
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If you read ONE THING this weekend, let it be this maybe:
This comprehensive report involves an Schutzstaffel Founded political group neutralizing a counterintelligence agency tasked with monitoring Far Right & Russian threats and should be getting way more attention in the west.
So many points of weakness here reflected back across the west, from the influence of capitalists corrupting the process to Putin's global kleptocratic reach & the ease of exploiting ambitious white men.
A Concerned Scientist
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Scientists say they can make zero-emission cement https://phys.org/news/2024-05-scientists-emission-cement.html
The big question is, will electric recycling of Portland cement at scale be adopted?
Original research paper here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07338-8
A Concerned Scientist
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""This is why right-wing #billionaires sue people reporting on them," continued Collins, who previously worked as a reporter for #NBC News covering, among other thing, right-wing disinformation. "They know they can't win these lawsuits. But they also know legal fees will cripple the little guy reporting on their lies & crimes. This is how free speech is actually chilled—vengeful dipshit billionaires.
"This is the latest example of billionaires & pandering politicians abusing the legal system to retaliate against their critics & harm the public's right to know,""
https://www.commondreams.org/news/elon-musk-media-matters-suit
A Concerned Scientist
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Experts agree, it can be difficult to distinguish between seasonal allergy symptoms, early signs of COVID-19, or just a cold. Best way to get an answer is to take a COVID test. So, why have many governments stopped free tests? @WHO
Gift article @nytimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/23/well/live/allergies-cold-covid-symptoms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.u00.KEi8.AgPZSbyCnEft&smid=tw-share
A Concerned Scientist
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A scientist aims to save habitats that rely on groundwater
they found only about 9% of groundwater-dependent ecosystems are adequately protected, while the remaining 91% are vulnerable.
When they looked at the entire state, they determined only 1% of the ecosystems are sufficiently protected under measures adopted to date
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-05-26/groundwater-ecosystems-scientist
#California #USA #US #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate
A Concerned Scientist
boosted
I'm deeply in love with my partner, so I'm not on the dating market anymore (sorry ladies and all you incredibly beautiful androgynous folk)...
But if I was single I'd be very excited that this covid safe dating website is out!
https://www.covid-chemistry.org/
Can't begin to imagine being covid cautious and trying to date these days.
Hopefully this helps bring more love to the world.
❤️🌎
A Concerned Scientist
boosted
'Closed my door and cried': Justice Sotomayor admits rulings have brought her to tears
https://www.rawstory.com/sotomayor-2668374166/
#US Scotus #Sotomayor
Moved full time to my other account @BE soon as this instance is still having issues.
Joined Nov 2022
