THE CORRUPT AND/OR CROOKED POLICE OFFICERS OF NEW JERSEY: Michael J. Coppola, a police chief with the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police department, has resigned after he was arrested on drug charges and other corrupt activities

THE DIRTY ITALIAN POLICE OFFICERS OF NEW JERSEY ARE THE WORST OF THE WORST

Sunday, August 19, 2018 01:54PM
HACKENSACK, New Jersey (WABC) --

A police chief with the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police department has resigned after he was arrested on drug charges.

This arrest happened in early August when Michael J. Coppola was accused of buying cocaine and shipping it to his post office box.

Detectives placed a package containing imitation cocaine in his box, and after Coppola retrieved the package, believing it contained cocaine, he was arrested during a motor vehicle stop in Ridgefield Park.

Coppola is charged with attempting to possess cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He's scheduled to make a court appearance Wednesday.

The 43-year-old was already under suspension for 90 days for allegedly offering financial incentives to his officers to write out more tickets.



==========================


New Jersey police chief allegedly gave incentives to officers who wrote more tickets


Friday, July 13, 2018

ALPINE, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey police chief has been suspended after it was discovered he allegedly offered incentives to officers who wrote more tickets and made more arrests.

Chief Michael Coppola of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department has been suspended for 90 days while officials oversee critical changes to the department, the Bergen County Prosecutors Office said Thursday.

A probe uncovered a program that gave awards and incentives to officers with the highest summons and arrest activity each month.

Investigators say those officers received favorable parking spaces, newer police vehicles and a meal allowance of $200.

Some of the tickets involved dangerous high speed chases, including one that ended in death.

Investigators reviewing police pursuits between January 2014 to August 2017 found officers violated pursuit guidelines in 36 of 41 cases.

In 23 of 36 pursuits, police speeds exceeded 100 mph. In 13 cases, police speeds exceeded 120 mph.

Investigators also found the chief owned a company which provided IT services to the department.

While they say he did not charge for or directly profit from services, investigators cited conflict of interest violations.

The Palisades Interstate Park Commission has not commented on the prosecutor's findings.

Perhaps this corrupt cop is related to Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, the notorious mobster.

Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola on trial 2009

Michael J. Coppola (born in May 18, 1946), also known as "Mikey Cigars", is an American mobster in the Genovese crime family. It is unknown if he is related to Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola, who was also a member of the Genovese crime family. He has been a key figure in the Genovese crime family New Jersey faction. He made national headlines when he went on the lam for 11 years to avoid a possible murder conviction. 

=================================

PASSAIC COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICER LUCAS LIED DURING HIS GRAND JURY TESTIMONY WHEN HE CLAIMED THAT HE INJURED HIS LEFT SHOULDER DURING A FALL AT A PROPERTY ON JUNE 28, 2011

Lying Lucas is #41

As part of an investigation we have been performing, we discovered that Ronald A. Lucas, a former Passaic County sheriff officer with the Civil Division lied about his on-the-job shoulder injury.  Lucas claimed that he fell on the job on June 28, 2011 at 687 Indian Road, Wayne, NJ and that he injured his left shoulder requiring several pins.  He then filed a disability claim with the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits (Police and Firemen Retirement System).  He was granted disability for one year with subsequent review.  After he retired with claimed disability, he obtained a job as part-time security guard at the Pequannock High School.

Bombshell evidence contradicting Lying Lucas’ injury claims: We have obtained a report by Lt. Nick Mango who stated that nobody was injured at the scene.  The report by Lucas also states that he stumbled and not fell.

We discovered that Mr. Lucas suffered shoulder injuries while playing football and lifting heavy weights over his lifetime.  He was a linebacker with the Pompton Lakes Cardinals (he played at position #41), using his shoulder to hit and tackle his opponents during practice and during football games.  He also lifted very heavy weights to do body building.  Lucas has fallen on his shoulder probably thousand times during his athletic and training career.

Everybody knows that linebackers hit and tackle their opponents using their shoulders.  These athletes also lift heavy weights and they end-up injuries their shoulders.   He (Lucas) even made the All County Team in 1980, showing how hard he was working out.  Based on our investigation, we found that weight lifting athletes do suffer shoulder injuries of the type claimed by Lucas.

He also trained his two sons (Dean Lucas and Ronnie Lucas) into playing TE and DE positions also with the Cardinals football team.  In fact, linebackers suffer at least 13.5 percent of all football injuries and at least 65 percent of the linebackers end up undergoing surgery.

Lt. Nick Mango wrote in his June 28, 2011 report that “nobody was hurt”.  Also, Lucas never wrote in his June 28, 2018 report that he was injured.  He specifically wrote:  “As I entered the woods I stumbled”.  He never wrote that he was injured.  However, during this grand jury testimony, he provided a diametrically different picture:

Lucas claimed that he fell on his elbow and shoulder, but was able to regain his balance, and he ran into a wooded area to seek cover behind a large boulder.   Lucas claimed that he tore his biceps and had surgery on his shoulder, and “ended up having a pretty severe injury” in his shoulder, requiring “five pins.”  Of course we now know that this guy was a football player and body builder and suffered these injuries over his many years of lifting heavy weights and hitting his opponents with his shoulder (he was a linebacker with the Pompton Lakes Cardinals at #41).  This guy then defrauded the Police and Firemen Retirement Fund by claiming disability and started the double dipping.

So, from flip-flopping regarding the color of the gun; to whether the door was closed or open; to whether he knocked the door or not; to whether he suffered a major injury or not, Lying Lucas has some serious credibility issues; and all his lies were allowed to poison the grand jury deliberations.

We have obtained photos showing Mr. Lucas lifting weights, after his alleged job-ending disability.  See for example the attached image that is dated December 2013.

It is obvious to a reasonable and objective person that Lucas (in his mid-50s) took this incident on June 28, 2011 to claim on-the job-injury to be able to repair his previously injured shoulder at taxpayers’ expense and to retire and then blame Basilis Stephanatos for his injuries.  After he retired, he started the double dipping.  The finest of New Jersey at "work".

a 70-year-old male and a 72-year-old female boaters from Potter's Marine died in North Creek on the North side of Pamlico River in North Carolina

Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter file photo


Coast Guard ends search for couple who went missing in Pamlico River, NC
August 19th, 2018 

Potter's Marine·is a Recreational Boat Slips and Boat Storage, Boat ramp Bath House. Located in North Creek on the North side of Pamlico River just 6miles from the ICW. Well protected and peaceful area.

WILMINGTON, NC — 

The Coast Guard ended its search Sunday morning following the recovery of the bodies of a couple who went missing in the Pamlico River, Friday.

The couple was a 70-year-old male and a 72-year-old female who were last seen departing Potters Marine early Friday afternoon. Their 20-foot boat was later found unmanned and adrift in the Pamlico River. They were recovered in that same river near North Creek and Oyster Creek.

The Coast Guard launched multiple assets and worked alongside state and local agencies who assisted in searching approximately 954 square miles of water and land.

An Incident Command Post was also created with Beaufort County Emergency Management Agency to manage county response.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and loved ones today,” said Captain Bion Stewart, commander of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “We are deeply saddened by the outcome, and we will continue to pray for the families during this most difficult time. I also want to commend all of the crews, including our partner agencies and the volunteers who worked diligently to conduct the search.”

Coast Guard assets involved: 

• 2 MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and a HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
• Coast Guard Auxiliary fix-winged aircraft
• 45-foot Response Boat-Medium and 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water, vessel from Coast Guard Station Hobucken
• 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water, vessel from Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City

==============================

BEAUFORT COUNTY, NC (WITN) 

A couple who went missing in the Pamlico River were found dead early Sunday morning, the Coast Guard said.

Crews found the first victim at 7:53 a.m. Sunday floating in shallow water on the east shore of North Creek off the Pamlico River. The second victim was found shortly after in the same area, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard and the Beaufort County Emergency Management Agency had been looking for a 72-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man since Friday.

The couple was last seen leaving the Potters Marine early Friday afternoon, officials said.
Around 6:40 p.m. Friday a neighbor called to report that an unmanned, 20-foot boat was floating near the Pamlico River.

The Coast Guard then launched a helicopter aircrew, and two boats to start searching for the missing boaters.

Beaufort County set up an Incident Command Post and launched two shoreline search parties and nine marine assets.

Crews had worked throughout the days and overnights until the couple was found Sunday.
The names of the victims have not yet been released.

---

Previous Story 

  Crews from multiple agencies are searching by air, sea and land for a missing couple in the Pamlico River, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard and the Beaufort County Emergency Management Agency are looking for a 72-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man who were last seen departing the Potters Marine early Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard said.

Around 6:40 p.m. Friday a neighbor called to report that an unmanned, 20-foot boat was floating near the Pamlico River, officials said.

The Coast Guard then launched a helicopter aircrew, and two boats to start searching for the missing boaters. The search continued throughout Friday night into Saturday morning.
Beaufort County set up an Incident Command Post and launched two shoreline search parties and nine marine assets who worked throughout Friday night and Saturday morning, the Coast Guard said.

If anyone sees anything in the vicinity of the Pamlico River, it is requested that they contact the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center on VHF-FM channel 16, or at 910-362-4015.

---

Previous Story 

  A big search is underway following a report of two people missing in the Pamlico River.
The U.S. Coast Guard tells us there are unconfirmed reports of two boaters in the water in the Bath area of Beaufort County. 

The Coast Guard has a helicopter and a boat involved in the search.

They tell us a total of five state and federal agencies are involved. 

We'll continue to update the story as we get more information.

Fire crews contained an acid spill at the Del Norte Regional Recycling & Transfer Station in Oxnard, CA that forced about 250 people from the facility

Acid spill cleaned up at Oxnard garbage facility
Christian Martinez, Ventura County Star 

August 16, 2018


OXNARD, CA - 

Fire crews contained an acid spill at an Oxnard garbage and recycling site Thursday morning that forced about 250 people from the facility, officials said.

The incident was reported just before 11 a.m. at the Del Norte Regional Recycling & Transfer Station at 111 South Del Norte Blvd., authorities said.

Oxnard and Ventura County fire crews responded to the incident. City officials who handle hazardous-material incidents also were called to investigate.


Todd Vazquez-Housley, manager for Oxnard’s Environmental Resources Division, said swimming pool chemicals had been spilled in the main area where trucks unload their waste.

Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Brian McGrath said about a gallon of the substance had spilled from one of eight containers.

The spill forced as many as 250 people to be evacuated from the recycling center, including 172 employees.

McGrath said one person was assessed, treated and released at the scene. Cleanup was completed by 1:11 p.m.

Investigators would be looking over surveillance video to find the source of the chemicals, Vazquez-Housley said.

As the cleanup took place, trucks queued up on the street outside, waiting to get into the facility.

In March 2017, Del Norte also had a hazardous-materials incident from a radiological substance. Two workers who were exposed were treated on scene.

Replacing methylene chloride in paint strippers: Questions remain about the safety and effectiveness of alternative solvents

Replacing methylene chloride in paint strippers
Questions remain about the safety and effectiveness of alternative solvents
by Britt E. Erickson



In early May, three mothers traveled to Washington, D.C., to urge members of Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of methylene chloride in paint and coating removers. Each of the women had a son who died from exposure to methyl­ene chloride in paint-stripping products purchased at home improvement stores.


After meeting with the families, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency will finalize a rule to limit commercial sales of methylene chloride soon. But what exactly that means and when it will happen is anyone’s guess. If EPA does ban the use of methylene chloride in paint removers, then what alternatives are available to consumers? C&EN visited several home improvement stores to find out and test how well some of the alternatives perform. We also talked with experts about new formulations currently under development.

A ban of some uses of methylene chloride-based paint removers is likely. In 2014, EPA reported that workers exposed to such products have an increased risk of cancer, as well as neurological and liver problems. At the time, EPA also concluded that consumers who use methylene chloride-based strippers face an increased risk of short-term neurological effects.

EPA is likely to ban methylene chloride, CH2Cl2, in consumer paint strippers. See how products made with and without it perform on cabinet doors with many layers of assorted paint types.


EPA proposed a ban on methylene chloride in paint and coating removal products during the final days of the Obama administration in early 2017. The Obama-era proposal would have banned both methyl­ene chloride, also called dichloromethane, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), a chemical widely used as an alternative to methylene chloride, in paint strippers. EPA declared in 2015 that NMP poses reproductive risks to pregnant women and women of childbearing age. But late last year the agency put bans of both chemicals on hold.


EPA’s recent announcement that it is moving forward with a methylene chloride rule doesn’t indicate whether the agency will also finalize the ban on NMP in paint strippers.


Myriad paint removers

Numerous stripping products are sold in U.S. home improvement stores. Here’s a sampling of what is inside some of those products and how a few of them performed during a test conducted by C&EN. Note: Not all products were tested by C&EN.

That leaves consumers wondering about their alternatives. Other than methylene chloride-based formulations, which are typically mixed with about 20% methanol, U.S. consumers can currently find paint removers that contain a mixture of NMP and benzyl alcohol, or NMP and dibasic esters such as dimethyl adipate or dimethyl glutarate. Stripping products are also available without NMP. Those products typically contain mixtures of dibasic esters and can include benzyl alcohol.


C&EN tested a few products on old wooden cabinet doors covered with multiple layers of paint, including lead-based paint, to find out how well the alternatives to methylene chloride perform. Each product was allowed to react with the paint for 30 minutes. A methylene chloride-based formulation was the only one that exposed any wood on the cabinet door, but it left a layer of lead-based paint behind. Mixtures of dibasic esters, both with and without NMP, removed several layers of paint but not as many as the methylene chloride-based product. A mixture of NMP and benzyl alcohol did not remove the top layer of paint within 30 minutes, although the product label recommended a longer reaction time.



This simple experiment confirms what experts are telling C&EN. “Paint removers with methylene chloride work really well, in 20 minutes or less, for most multilayer applications,” says Greg Morose, research manager of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Alternative paint removers that don’t contain methylene chloride, such as those with NMP, dibasic esters, and benzyl alcohol, “work much, much less effectively for multilayer applications,” Morose notes. It takes six to 12 hours for those products to work, he says.


Morose is managing a project at TURI that aims to commercialize alternative products that perform as well as methyl­ene chloride-based strippers without the safety risks. The team has developed two formulations that Morose says perform as well as methylene chloride as a general-purpose paint stripper. The formulations contain methyl acetate, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and either thiophene or 1,3-dioxolane.


Although the formulations are not yet commercially available, Morose says the team is in discussions with several manufacturers. They filed a patent application for the technology in 2016.


“The university can’t produce this on its own. We need industry partners that manufacture paint strippers to take this to market,” Morose says. He is optimistic that the formulations will be commercialized soon. Manufacturers are testing the products in their own labs and are confirming they are equivalent to methylene chloride-based strippers, he says.


To be effective at stripping multiple layers of paint, products need to be able to dissolve a wide variety of polymers. “Paint coatings are just different types of polymers,” Morose explains. Three intermolecular forces control a solvent’s ability to dissolve polymers—dispersion (van der Waals), polarity (dipole moment), and hydrogen bonding. A solvent’s so-called Hansen solubility parameter takes into account all three forces.


“We did a lot of testing to find out the optimal Hansen solubility parameters” to dissolve multiple layers of paint and coatings, Morose says. “If you took any one of the solvents and tried to use it to remove paint, it would be ineffective because the Hansen solubility parameter is not optimized,” he notes. But if you combine solvents in a certain ratio, you can get a more desirable Hansen solubility parameter, he says.


The performance of paint strippers also depends on the ability of the solvents to penetrate through multiple layers. If you can get the solvent down to the substrate, all the layers are removed at once, Morose says. Alternatives to methylene chloride in paint strippers, such as NMP, benzyl alcohol, and dibasic esters, all have large molecular volumes that prevent them from getting through multiple layers, he notes. Those products work one layer at a time. That is why it takes them so long, he says.


Other experts say they would like to see more testing of the formulations developed by TURI. “It is hard to know whether they are effective,” says Katy Wolf, director of the Institute for Research & Technical Assistance, which promotes alternatives to toxic solvents. Wolf also worries about the toxicity of DMSO, which is known to mobilize other chemicals, allowing them to go through skin. The toxicity of thiophene is unknown, she adds.


For most applications, you don’t need a chemical-based paint stripper, Wolf says. Other technologies, such as abrasion, laser stripping, heat treatment, and dry ice paired with crushed recycled glass blasting, can be effective for removing paint from many surfaces, including aircraft panels and boat hulls, she says. Removing paint from wood surfaces, particularly antique furniture, however, is more challenging because you can’t use abrasion, she acknowledges. Wolf recommends using a benzyl alcohol-based stripper for such applications. It takes longer than methylene chloride, but it is less toxic and noncarcinogenic, she notes.



EPA is expected to soon finalize its rule regarding methylene chloride in paint-removing products. It is unclear, however, what will be in that final rule. Small businesses that refinish furniture are likely to be exempt from the rule, as is the Department of Defense.


In the meantime, consumer advocacy and environmental groups are pushing retailers to stop selling paint-removal products that contain methyl­ene chloride. That pressure appears to be working. In late May, home improvement retailer Lowe’s announced it would stop selling paint strippers with methylene chloride and NMP by the end of the year.


“We care deeply about the health and safety of our customers, and great progress is being made in the development of safer and more effective alternatives,” said Mike McDermott, Lowe’s chief customer officer. “As a home improvement leader, we recognize the need for viable paint removal products and remain committed to working closely with suppliers to further innovate in this category.”


The Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3), a coalition of stakeholders that aims to commercialize green chemistry approaches and more sustainable options, welcomes the opportunity to work with Lowe’s and other members on alternatives to methylene chloride in paint strippers.


“Lowe’s announcement provides an important stimulus for green chemistry solutions,” GC3 Director Joel Tickner says.


Environmentalists are encouraged by EPA’s plan to finalize the methylene chloride rule, but they remain skeptical that the agency will follow through with a ban.


At least four people have died from exposure to methyl­ene chloride in paint strippers since January 2017, when EPA proposed to ban such products, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. “Lowe’s is showing leadership as the first major U.S. retailer to eliminate methylene chloride paint strippers from its stores,” Sujatha Jahagirdar, a policy specialist at NRDC, said in a press release. “It underscores the failure of this EPA to do its job to protect the American public from dangerous toxic chemicals.”

Health and environmental groups want the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban children’s items, including high chairs, containing organohalogen flame retardants that can migrate out of polymers.

U.S. agency struggling with organohalogen flame retardants in consumer products
CPSC seeks National Academies’ advice on regulating chemicals as a class
by Cheryl Hogue

August 17, 2018

Health and environmental groups want the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban children’s items, including high chairs, containing organohalogen flame retardants that can migrate out of polymers.


From laptop computers to babies’ high chairs, hundreds of everyday household goods contain chemicals intentionally added to prevent or slow the items from igniting. These compounds can end up in a home’s dust and ingested by children and adults. Federal biomonitoring data show that most U.S. residents have measurable quantities of flame retardant metabolites in their blood. This finding raises red flags because many commonly used flame retardants are linked to health concerns including endocrine disruption, reproductive problems, cancer, and harmful developmental effects.

 Flame retardant manufacturers phased down use of decabromodiphenyl ether because of health concerns and substituted decabromodiphenyl ethane, which has similar physical and chemical traits and potentially similar toxicity.


To protect consumers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is struggling with potentially banning an entire class of these substances: organohalogen flame retardants. CPSC, a federal agency with less than 600 employees, has never before considered regulating an entire category of chemicals. Meanwhile, flame retardant manufacturers and electronics makers are dead set against a ban affecting the dozens of organohalogens used in consumer products.


Now, CPSC is turning to the National Academies of Science (NAS). The agency wants help determining whether and how to implement a scientifically sound ban on products containing organohalogen flame retardants, a group of chemicals that includes brominated or chlorinated phosphate esters.


The gears of CPSC regulation started rolling last September after a 3-2 vote by the agency’s commissioners, who are appointed by the president to seven-year terms to direct the agency’s actions. That vote granted a petition seeking a CPSC ban of four types of household goods containing organohalogen flame retardants. Those consumer items are children’s products, except car seats; residential furniture; mattresses and mattress pads; and casings that surround electronics such as home computers.


The petition targets only organohalogens that are simply added to the material, not chemically bound within a product’s polymer structure. These so-called additive flame retardants can migrate from the products they are used in. This leads to human exposure, say the petitioners, who include the American Academy of Pediatrics and advocates for the environment, consumers, industrial workers, firefighters, and those with learning disabilities.


Organohalogen flame retardants are inherently toxic due to their physical, chemical, and biological properties, the petitioners say. At a CPSC hearing on the petition last year, Linda Birnbaum, the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program agreed. “Every chemical tested in this class has adverse effects,” she said.


The petitioners argue that the chemicals’ toxicity means regulators should address them in one fell swoop. “It is imperative that CPSC’s regulation cover all organohalogen flame retardants as a class,” they say.


Selecting only some of these chemicals for regulation, they contend, won’t prevent manufacturers from switching to other organohalogen flame retardants with similar health effects. This practice happened in the past, they point out.


For example, concerns rose more than a decade ago about decabromodiphenyl ether because it persists in the environment and is linked to cancer and brain function impairment. The substance was widely used in the housing of televisions and personal computers. After negotiations with the U.S. EPA, makers of this flame retardant phased out sales of the substance at the end of 2013.


In its place, chemical makers substituted a structurally similar compound, decabromodiphenyl ethane.


These ether and ethane flame retardants have similar physical and chemical properties and could pose similar health concerns (Xenobiotica, 2017, DOI: 10.1080/00498254.2016.1250180).


As CPSC focuses on a possible ban of all organohalogen flame retardants, the agency is establishing what’s called a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel to conduct a detailed review of scientific data on organohalogen toxicity and exposure. This group of outside scientific experts will report to the agency about the risks to consumers’ health and safety from organohalogen flame retardants in four kinds of items specified in the petition.


Meanwhile, CPSC is asking the NAS flame retardants committee to help the agency determine whether it is possible to characterize organohalogen flame retardants clearly enough to address them as a group—or what information the agency would need to do so. “We don’t know whether it’s is possible to consider these as a class,” CPSC Assistant General Counsel Patricia M. Pollitzer told the panel. “It is a new question for us.”


The agency is also seeking advice from the NAS panel on whether it should—or could—break organohalogen flame retardant into subclasses for possible regulation, said George Borlase, head of the CPSC’s Office of Hazard Identification & Reduction.


Manufacturers are arguing against CPSC regulating organohalogen flame retardants as a class. Due to their varying physiochemical properties and toxicity profiles, these chemicals can’t appropriately be lumped together for regulation, said Kimberly W. White, a senior director at the chemical industry group American Chemistry Council. She spoke to the NAS committee on behalf of the council’s North American Flame Retardant Alliance.


The hazard and risk of each organohalogen needs to be assessed individually, White argued. These compounds are not all interchangeable among applications, she added. Chris Cleet of the Information Technology Industry Council, an association that includes makers of computers, phones, and printers, backed White’s arguments against a ban of the compounds as a class.


The outcome of the work by the NAS committee and the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel will have broad repercussions, Eve C. Gartner, director of the toxics program at the environmental group Earthjustice, one of the petitioners, tells C&EN. For instance, the two scientific reports are likely to influence EPA’s ongoing assessments of several types of flame retardant chemicals under the federal law governing commercial chemicals, she says. In that effort, EPA is determining if these chemicals are safe for their specific uses or whether they need regulation to protect human health.


CPSC’s and NAS’s work could also have regulatory ramifications for a subset of organohalogen compounds making headlines this year—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), Gartner predicts. PFAS chemicals are commonly used as surfactants, grease repellents, and wetting agents. These substances, which include perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, are increasingly being detected at levels of health concern in public drinking water supplies across the U.S. and world. The NAS panel is expected to finalize its advice on organohalogen flame retardants to CPSC in the first half of 2019, says Ellen K. Mantus, NAS staff officer for the project.