"U.S. health officials on Friday again urged people to stop vaping until they figure out why some are coming down with serious breathing illnesses.
Officials have identified about 450 possible cases, including as many as five deaths, in 33 states. The count includes newly reported deaths in California, Indiana and Minnesota.
No single vaping device, liquid or ingredient has been tied to all the illnesses, officials said. Many of the sickened — but not all — were people who said they had been vaping THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its high. Many are teens.
Health officials have only been counting certain lung illnesses in which the person had vaped within three months. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the body apparently reacting to a caustic substance that someone breathed in. Symptoms have included shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain and vomiting."
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https://www.milforddailynews.com/zz/news/20190906/us-health-officials-report-new-vaping-deaths-repeat-warning
"A supplemental spending bill Gov. Charlie Baker plans to file on Friday will include millions of dollars in new money to help cities and towns test for and treat certain chemical contaminants in their drinking water.
The family of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been detected at levels above Department of Environmental Protection guidelines in public water supplies in Ayer, Barnstable, Harvard, Hudson, Mashpee, Middleton, Shirley and Westfield, according to the DEP.
DEP officials said all those communities have taken action to target PFAS, and the department is undergoing a sampling program looking for contamination in areas where PFAS has been found or is known to have been used.
The budget Baker is filing to close the books on fiscal 2019 will propose $8.4 million to test drinking water for PFAS contamination, and another $20 million to support PFAS remediation projects, according to the DEP."
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https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190906/baker-seeking-big-outlay-to-address-water-contaminant
