Moving to Mars

Before it widely was understood PFAS or the chemical C8 has been in our water supply for decades, I had my own bout with it.  The bottom of my bathtub, a sixty year old, cast iron, porcelain covered affair began to become discolored with black.  Everyone has problems with mildew in their homes, and this slimy black residue is no stranger to us.  This black discoloration would not go away.  I tried the myriad of chemicals recommended on the internet to no avail.  I even broke out the drill and wire brush.  It remained.  Over time a white chalky film mixed with the black residue of which I thought it must be soap scum.  (I did change from Safeguard to Dial soap, and this is when this happened.)  Several years went by and the overall health of my feet suffered to the point where I ended up with "Covid Toes" or vasculitis.  Three different medical professionals within the FirstHealth system were unable to help.  The infectious disease doctor told me emphatically it was not infection.  A few months later an M.D. diagnosed my toes as psoriasis, not eczema.  I think it is a Staph infection, because the upper layer of skin on my toes just peels off from the exotoxin secreted by Staphylococcus Haemolyticus.  A culture done on my raw feet discovered this bacteria, which is a normal part of the skin flora.  The antibiotic Keflex marginally was helpful with healing.  I don't know how I contracted this bacterial infection, but it has ravaged the right side of my body for three years.  We have our own personal demons with which to contend.  A bathtub with black goo on the bottom is not helpful.  As I was driving yesterday I began to think about chemistry, a science that has been downplayed in American importance.  While not immediately apparent to us when we are in the classroom, some things taught in our public schools are meant to be helpful.  Applying them to real life is the challenge.  I thought about Teflon, and it purpose as a non-stick cooking surface.  I thought about silver electro-plating, when an electrical charge chemically bonds metals together.  My Bach Stradivarius trumpet is silver, and unlike laquer it has stood the test of time protecting its raw brass.  The film in my tub exhibited the characteristics of chemical bonding.  A by product of the manufacturing of Teflon, a non-stick cooking surface, categorized as a "forever chemical" should not be in water supply.  After the new director of the EPA from North Carolina showed interest in PFAS, things began to happen.  Chemours, which had been sold by DuPont to the Chinese, announced they would build a multi-story retaining wall between their plant and the Cape Fear River.  This is long after my mother began complaining about a white film which gets on her glasses when driving and shopping.  This experience with a stubborn nemesis, which has it origins in chemical properties not conducive to human health, has shaped my opinion about the origins of Covid 19.  If DuPont knowingly has been releasing this substance into the American water shed for seventy years, even after a thorough multi-year medical study showed its potential for harm and death to human beings, then anything is possible, and we are not safe.  How is a human being able to compete with an industrial-level chemical process gone awry?  This is why American government developed regulatory agencies to ensure our health and well being.  Covid has been found in our meat supplies.  With every passing day the prophecies of the national evening news become more grim.  The oceans are boiling.  The hottest temperatures in history are being recorded.  Our water supply is poison.  Mother Nature can correct these problems, but we need to stop the ill work of man.  If we do cause the extinction of the human race, then the planet can regenerate.  How long will this vacation on planet Mars be?