News Round Up: From Environmental Hazards to Industry Disruptions

Prepare to be shocked as we expose the environmental crisis brewing beneath our feet. Sewage spills are more than just a waste management issue; they're a ticking time bomb for ecological disaster. We tackle the hard truths about water regulators' need for increased power, pushing for fines that make polluters pay and fund solutions to our water waste woes. Moreover, brace yourself as we uncover the unsettling prevalence of 'forever chemicals' in our agriculture and question the assurances from authorities that may not be as safe as they claim. This episode doesn't just skim the surface; we're holding water companies' feet to the fire with a candid discussion on accountability and the health risks lurking in our lands and waterways.

Shift gears with us as we navigate the turbulent waters of global economic challenges and industry updates. From Boeing's assembly line controversy to Tesla's massive layoffs, we dissect the upheaval and the strict German labor laws that complicate the picture. But that's not all; we also unravel the tangled aftermath of Brexit and the resulting medicine shortages that have left pharmacists and patients in a lurch. Citing a study from Imperial College London, we explore the far-reaching impact of these shortages on the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. Join us for this episode as we connect the dots between policy decisions and their real-world consequences, ensuring you stay informed and ready to engage in these critical conversations.

Key economic data for the first quarter of 2024 for the US, UK and China are also in this week's episode.

Transcript

Tony Hines: 0:05

Hello, tony Hines. Here You're listening to the Chain Reaction Podcast. All about supply chain advantage. Well, thanks for stopping by today. Good to have you along.

Tony Hines: 0:23

Now, the more I read about sewage spills, the more I think it's a supply chain issue in a sense, because, effectively, we're trying to dispose of waste in a system, a water system. We need fresh water delivered to homes and industry, and that's important, and it's important to maintain water quality, and it's also important that the water system is able to cope with sewage. It takes away waste from houses and from industrial sites and disposes of it through the system. Now, obviously, when this system overflows, sewage gets pumped into clean water systems, and so you end up having to deal with that once again. So it's a double handling problem and we should only be dealing with it once and effectively. So, from that point of view, that's why I say it's equivalent to a supply chain system issue. The other thing I think about the publicity surrounding water systems and the waste that ends up in our rivers and into the sea is that we should be protecting the environment and making sure that it's clean so that life is not disturbed in the wider ecosystem. We owe a duty of care. It's akin to water companies acting like fly tippers by tipping their waste and creating a problem for someone else.

Tony Hines: 1:45

So isn't it time that the government took action to actually put this right? Well, most people think so. The water regulators need teeth to act, and they need to act on the side of the consumer and not on the side of the water companies themselves. They need to be impartial and fair, but it's about focusing on the side of the water companies themselves. They need to be impartial and fair, but it's about focusing on the customer. That's always important in these matters, and if a regulator can't do that, then there's no point in having a regulator. A regulator is there to protect society from these monopolies or quasi-monopolies that impact on customers, who have little redress apart from the government acting on their behalf. And governments need to make sure that the regulation system is working effectively and they also need to act, and fines are the way to go Fine the companies if they're not doing the job of keeping the water clean and protecting the environment. The money, of course course, from these fines should go into a protected fund that's set aside to deal with problems of water waste when companies aren't doing the job, so that they can actually pay for things to be done, and it could build up over time. It's clear that the system can't go on the way it is without more effective control, and the water companies won't do it of their own volition, because they don't seem to have any intention of doing so.

Tony Hines: 3:10

The Campaign for National Parks in the United Kingdom found that 60.6% of rivers in English national parks were failing and 84.8% of lakes. Sewage spills were partly to blame for the declining water quality in the parks, and regulators are accused of ignoring the area's protected status. The government set a legal target of 75% for water bodies in England reaching at least a good ecological status by 2027, but to date, only 14.5% meet the standard and 38.8% of rivers in national parks are rated good, while just 0.6% achieve high status. It's declined over time 47% were achieving the standard in 2013, compared to just 39% in 2022. And, of course, the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads, the New Forest, the Peak District are all well below par. Sewage pollution is one of the main problems. There were 377 sewage spills in national parks in England and Wales in 2022, and 176,818 hours where untreated waste was being dumped. Snowdonia in Wales had the highest number at 48, followed by Dartmoor 44 and the Lake District at 40. So this is a serious problem that's just not being addressed.

Tony Hines: 4:39

There have been calls for the water companies and the heads of those water companies to be held personally responsible and receive criminal charges when they fail to deliver, and also they should be cutting their bonuses. That's what many say. These people receive a lot of money to do this job and it's time they started taking some responsibility and acting in the interest of the people they serve rather than themselves. Now, I'm often on the side of the National Farmers Union when they give evidence about particular impacts on their community, but this week I saw an article with which I'm slightly confused by the National Farmers Union has spoken out against forever chemicals, according to an article in the Eye Now, these forever chemicals such as PFAS. I did a special episode on this for Chain Reaction a month or two back and you can still go back and pick that episode up.

Tony Hines: 5:42

But they published research last week by the Pesticide Action Network UK which sampled fruit and vegetables for the presence of PFAS, which are found in pesticides, and this research found that more than half of those samples contained pesticide residue, although only 1.8% contained residue above the legal level. So this is a legal argument, isn't it? 1.8%. These levels, by the way, do change all the time. Even when a food breaches the legal limit, it rarely poses a health risk, according to the UK's Health and Safety Executive.

Tony Hines: 6:19

Well, it comes down to do we trust these bodies to look after our interests, or are they looking after other people's interests? Because PFAS chemicals build up in the body and you can't get rid of them, so they are harmful, even in small quantities. In a statement, the National Farmers Union Deputy President, david Exwood, said that research showed no evidence. No evidence that these residues cause harm to consumers and largely related to food not grown in the UK. Well, that might be so, because elsewhere in the world the levels aren't as stringent as they are in the UK, but nevertheless, we should not be complacent about PFAS. These chemicals cause damage to vital organs in the body as they build up, and the question is is just a small amount too much? Are the levels correct? We don't know effectively and we won't know unless we did autopsies on people after they die some years into the future, but I'm concerned that this is too complacent an attitude. These chemicals ought to be removed as far as they can be. It's pesticides, of course, that are the issue, and as farming has become more industrial in the way it develops crops, then you want to be efficient in the way you generate those crops to maximise output, and that means using pesticides, and many of those pesticides do have PFAs. I would recommend the National Farmers Union President to go and have a look at what's happening currently in the United States with regard to claims for these PFAS forever chemicals in pesticides and other products that are currently going through the courts, and it's about £11 billion changed hands to fight these class action claims since 2015. So maybe that's headed here. If we're too complacent, it may be that somewhere down the line, somebody decides to take a class action against farming practices or against food processes. That results in the PFAS chemicals having to be removed from pesticides, but it will cost somebody a great deal of money in the process.

Tony Hines: 8:43

There was an online survey I saw which said do you think the current regulations on per and polyfluoroalkyl substances are sufficient? And it gave four choices, which said A yes, they're sufficient. 11% thought they were sufficient. B no, they're not sufficient. 60%. C they're sufficient, but could be improved. 16%. And D I'm not sure 13%. When people are asked, should PFAS be banned, there's an argument made by the PFAS lobbyists that say it's a regrettable substitution because it's potentially damaging to our environment and health but costly to industry, as they reduce and replace one chemical with another that may be banned in the near future. So it's quite a complex issue. But there's a lot of noise in the system by the companies that make PFAS chemicals trying to persuade everybody that they are really okay and you're better sticking with what you've got and trying to regulate everybody that they are really okay and you're better sticking with what you've got and trying to regulate them even more harshly, which could do more damage. But do you buy that one? I personally don't, but I'll leave that for you.

Tony Hines: 9:50

These are a group of substances synthetic organofluoride chemical compounds and they have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. They've been used in industry for over 70 years and they have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. They've been used in industry for over 70 years and they're in all sorts of chemicals and consumer products worldwide. So getting them out the system is a bigger problem than you might think. It's not just a case of turning up the tap today and everything's okay. It will take years and years to get these chemicals out of the water systems that they've gone into.

Tony Hines: 10:24

The European Union has been actively addressing the issue for some time. They're in firefighting foams and they're in pesticides and they're in many daily everyday products and of course, they were used in non-stick frying pans and all that kind of stuff. So on the face of it, they seem a very useful group of chemicals, but of course they were used in non-stick frying pans and all that kind of stuff. So on the face of it, they seem a very useful group of chemicals, but of course, if they do harm to animals, including humans, then that's no good, is it? There are thousands of these synthetic chemicals which are used in the different products. They're increasingly detected as environmental pollutants and have been linked to negative effects on human health.

Tony Hines: 11:04

Pfas contain carbon fluoride bonds and they resist degradation, so you can't get rid of them. The EU proposed a universal PFAS restriction to reduce the emissions into the environment and enhance safety. The proposal aims to ban or restrict the use of PFAS in various products and processes. It contaminates groundwater, surface water and soil. The EU has recommended that PFAS is taken out of firefighting firms because that can leak into the soils as well. When it gets into the body, these chemicals damage the endocene, immune and reproductive systems.

Tony Hines: 11:44

Health costs are estimated at 52.84 billion pounds every year. European Union executive is facing pressure from chemical industries and right-wing politicians, so it depends how successful that lobby is in preventing the ban of PFAS chemicals. But it's all about money and vested interests. It's been estimated that health savings from chemical bans would outweigh industry costs by a factor of 10. It would reduce the cost of treating illnesses such as cancer. It's likely that they're going to get banned at some stage, but I suspect the chemical industry is trying to delay the process with its lobbying presently and we're likely to see lots of competing claims from research studies. But you have to look at who conducts the research study to be sure that these are independent of any vested interest. Well, quality, quality, quality Back on the table. We all know how important that is in our supply chains.

Tony Hines: 12:54

It was reported this week by a Boeing engineer who's a whistleblower that the troubled 787 Dreamliner model could simply drop to the ground in mid-air unless the supposed safety issues are addressed. Quality engineer and whistleblower, sam Salipour, told NBC Nightly News last Tuesday that this could happen and he won't allow his family to fly on the plane. These are the alleged issues against this 787 Dreamliner. Of course you'll remember there's been another whistleblower in the past months. That was John Barnett, and while he was given evidence on the situation of Boeing, he was mysteriously found dead. So lots of strange things have gone on this year in particular at Boeing. John Barnett was a former quality control manager with Boeing and he'd raised concerns about the firm's production standards. He said that under-pressure workers had been deliberately fitting substandard parts to aircraft on the production line and he said there were also serious problems with oxygen systems, which could result in one in four breathing masks not working properly aircraft on the production line and he said there were also serious problems with oxygen systems, which could result in one in four breathing masks not working properly in an emergency. Mr Barnett was found dead in the United States in March 2024.

Tony Hines: 14:15

Sam Salipour is an engineer and he's accused Boeing of taking shortcuts in the construction of the 787 and 777 jets. He said he was threatened with termination after raising these concerns with bosses. Boeing has disputed these allegations and stated that they're confident that the safety and quality of the aircraft is all right. Boeing's quality issues continue, of course, and it's prompted a growing chorus of former employees to come forward expressing their concern about the manufacturing processes. Roy Irvin is a quality manager who retired in 2020, and he also said that employees working on the 787 Dreamliner jets were discouraged from speaking out about problems. They have a company speak-out system which is supposed to encourage employees to give feedback, but that doesn't appear to have worked very well. Irvin's account will be part of a congressional hearing on Wednesday this week that will also feature another whistleblower who went public last week with similar concerns about the 787 joints.

Tony Hines: 15:19

Federal safety officials are also investigating claims made public last week and the engineer concerned, sam Salipar. He'll also testify on Wednesday. He's speaking about the process that Boeing used to fasten parts of the plane together, which left wider gaps than was allowed by the standards, which might compromise the plane's durability. Boeing, of course, has defended all these comments and made a two-hour presentation to journalists earlier in the week. Boeing engineers are said to have conducted their own tests over several years and said that most of the gaps meet specifications and the ones that don't don't compromise the plane's structural integrity. Of course, they only have to be wrong on one of those for that to be a really seriously big problem.

Tony Hines: 16:05

The Federal Aviation Administration said that voluntary reporting of problems in the production system are critical to aviation safety. Mr Salipar has over four decades of experience as an engineer with Boeing. According to what the attorneys told the New York Times in a piece reported by them, he said one of the problems was that all the fuselage parts for the Dreamliners are produced in separate factories by different manufacturers and they don't fit together properly. So when they come to the assembly lines, there are issues and problems about getting those pieces to fit together snugly. Another article in Forbes magazine talks about many of Boeing's problems being caused by decades of outsourcing. So another nail in the coffin of outsourcing, especially in critical industries like this one. Of course, we could also argue that specifications need to be tight, inspections need to be exacted and, of course, standards need to be tight. Inspections need to be exacted and, of course, standards need to be adhered to. If you have a standard, then the quality standard has to be met and there's no room for shortcuts in any of this, and cost should never be an issue against quality in the aircraft industry.

Tony Hines: 17:20

Tesla recently announced major layoffs across the global sites, including in Germany, tesla confirmed it was terminating more than 10,000 workers worldwide. This includes reductions across sales, tech and engineering departments. Tesla in Germany is reported to be thinking about laying off about 3,000 of its 12,000 workforce. The employees haven't been told yet. According to news sources, german union IG Metal said that Tesla hadn't informed or consulted the Works Council, as is customary. German labour law has strict rules on firing staff. Around 1,000 workers at the plant are on temporary contracts, which makes them more vulnerable. The layoffs come as Tesla is facing increasing competition in China and the slowing sales in the United States, and it needs investment capital for new models and artificial intelligence developments. According to a report on the Autoblog website, some staff who've been laid off have reportedly learned about it when the employee badges didn't scan. Tesla's global cuts are also affecting staff in the CEO, elon Musk on Monday. There's currently fierce competition in the marketplace and a price war going on by competitors in the electric vehicle market, and that's been instigated by Chinese manufacturers, who are trying to gain more market share by cutting prices. The next financial statement for Tesla is due out around April 23rd, and I'm guessing that profits are either flat or lower than expected, and we'll find out a little more, then, about these job cuts. Worldwide, the share price, too, is expected to fall.

Tony Hines: 19:26

Well, it appears that many drugs are now in short supply, and we used to talk about the new normal, what it would be like after Brexit. Well, this is it, I suppose, problematic. The Nuffield Trust health think tank warned that there are many shortages of drugs, a dramatic spike in the numbers of drugs not having availability there were 648 in 2020. That's shortages, warnings of shortages and impending supply chain problems. And in 2023, there were 1,634.

Tony Hines: 20:01

The Nuffield Trust report by Mark Dayen says that the rise in shortage of these vital medicines from offshore suppliers has been commonplace and a shocking development that many would not expect to see. There's been shortages in ADHD drugs, type 2 diabetes drugs and epilepsy drugs. Some of these have become quite hard to obtain and it could obviously affect patients' lives and in some cases, they could become unwell and very ill rapidly. Helplines have been flooded out with requests for medicines that have been unavailable. According to a report in the Guardian newspaper, the National Pharmacy Association represents about 7,000 independent pharmacies and they said supply shortages are a real and present danger to patients who rely on life-saving medicines.

Tony Hines: 20:52

Pharmacies have seen problems get worse over recent years. Community Pharmacy England has a piece on the website that says shortages of medicines are becoming an increasingly frequent issue and they hinder pharmacy teams in their efforts to dispense medicines in a timely manner. Community Pharmacy England is very concerned about the impact that the current supply problems are having on pharmacy teams workload and about the potential impact on patients. Notice, patients are last in this problem. The Department of Health and Social Care produces a monthly update of shortages for primary and secondary care and then if you click on that, you get to a page that gives information on shortages, and I was talking to a few people where they said that their personal experiences mirror what's being said in the reports on this matter. Some pharmacists say they're unable to get their regular supplies and they have to switch quite regularly, and it's a real supply chain issue getting hold of the inventory.

Tony Hines: 21:51

The UK's exit from the single market has created more friction, more stress and problems. The European Medicines Agency, which used to support problems, of course the UK is no longer a member, so another Brexit story, another supply chain problem. There's an interesting paper I came across that was published in JMIR Research Protocols and it comes from Imperial in the United Kingdom and the title of the paper is called the Impact of Brexit on the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain of the UK, and it's written by Milne Knives, lamb, van Veldhoven and Minot, and the paper examines the issues involved in the various protocols. It was actually published in 2020, and it said then that the continuing uncertainty around Brexit had caused concern in the pharmaceutical industry and among healthcare professionals and patients, and the exact consequences on the pharmaceutical supply chain in the UK will depend on whether a deal is reached and what it entails. Regulatory issues and delays in supply have the potential to negatively affect the ability of UK residents to receive an adequate and timely supply of necessary medicines. Well, it's come to realisation, hasn't it? But the warning was there back in 2020, and earlier. While we're discussing healthcare, there was another little story I came across about the speed of the authorisation of drugs, and between 2022 and 2023, four drugs authorised by the European Commission were approved faster in Britain. Three, four drugs authorised by the European Commission were approved faster in Britain, but 56 were approved in Britain later than in the EU, and eight had still not been approved as of March 2024, and that was reported by Sky News.

Tony Hines: 23:46

There were some other job loss announcements this week, apart from Tesla. Tesla hit on 10%, you'll recall. Stability AI has said it will lay off some staff as part of a restructuring process, and that's according to an internal memo. Co-op Atlantic has laid off about 400 employees in Canada. Family dollar discount chain is cutting 250 jobs in Ohio. Amazon has laid off 20% of its employees in China and Ted Baker is closing 15 stores in the UK and cutting 245 jobs. Toshiba too, the electronics giant in Japan, is said to be shedding 10% of its workforce and that's about 5,000 people.

Tony Hines: 24:35

Well, some of the key economic indicators this week. In the United States, gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of about 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Personal incomes have increased $66.5 billion 0.3% at a monthly rate. In February, us international transactions on the current account narrowed by $1.6 billion or 0.8%, to $194.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. Us international investment was $19.77 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. And business inventories in the United States end-of-month inventories for February 24, were $2.567.5 billion up 0.4%. Retail sales in the US for March 2024 stood at $709.6 billion up 0.7%.

Tony Hines: 25:37

In the United Kingdom, gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the final quarter of 2023. In December 2023 through to February 2024, it's grown by 0.2% and it's said to have grown by 0.1% in February 2024 compared to January GDP forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The OBR are 0.8% in 2024 and 1.9% in 2025. Inflation in the United States stood at 3.5% for the 12 months ending March 2024. In the United Kingdom, it's 3.8% for the same period. The interest rates for the Federal Reserve are between 5.25% and.5 for a fifth consecutive meeting in March, and the United Kingdom interest rate stood at 5.25% for the fourth consecutive time during its first meeting of 2024 in April. Unemployment in the United States decreased to 3.6% in March 2024. In the United Kingdom, the unemployment rate was estimated to be 4.2% in the period from December 23 to February 24.

Tony Hines: 26:55

Brent crude per barrel this week was about $87.72, and West Texan crude about $82.89 per barrel. Critical mineral prices all continue to rise and some of those mineral prices have doubled in the past couple of years. Well, that's it for this week. I hope you've enjoyed the episode. I hope you've found out something you didn't know before you started listening, and I hope it's informative. Don't forget to subscribe to the Chain Reaction Podcast and be the first to know about new episodes. Follow us on LinkedIn X and Facebook. I look forward to seeing you in the next edition of the Chain Reaction Podcast. Until then, there are many episodes for you to catch up on, and I suggest you stop by the website and have a listen to those you've missed or want to listen to again. I'm Tony Hines. I'm signing off and I'll see you next time in the Chain Reaction Podcast. Bye for now, thank you.