Too Fat to Get Sick?
Once in a while, a health news story makes you do a double-take and say, “Did I just read what I thought I read?”
The legislature in West Virginia passed a bill to delay the implementation of water safety guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency for two years. They’re allowing delays in the restriction of 60 pollutants, including some known carcinogens, dumped into streams and rivers by chemical manufacturers. How did this happen? A lobbying group for the chemical manufacturers lobbied the legislature to delay the implementation so that more state-specific data could be gathered. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?
No. The lobbying group’s justification for the delay is that West Virginians are fatter and thus can handle more pollutants. They also drink less water and eat less fish as well; therefore additional amounts of pollutants are just fine in drinking water.
I understand that we’re now in an era of turning back EPA regulations, and maybe some are even justified. But a legislature that accepts this BS argument by a group representing chemical companies doesn’t seem to have the health of their populace in mind. The facts are that many pollutants are stored in fat, so being heavy may make people more vulnerable, not less.
Too fat to get sick? Unbelievable. Maybe it’s time to see what’s happening to the water in your area.
What are you prepared to do today?
