Tag: #pfas-forever-chemicals — 19 segments on Living on Earth
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March 13, 2026:
PFAS Still at Pittsburgh Airport
Foams containing PFAS or “forever chemicals” are excellent at suppressing fires involving jet fuel and other oil products, but they leave behind a toxic legacy. And they have long been used for firefighting drills, including at a training facility based at Pittsburgh International Airport. Although the facility now uses PFAS-free firefighting foam, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports that sampling is still showing high levels of PFAS being discharged into nearby streams.
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November 28, 2025:
Wildfire Trauma and Recovery
Wildfires can take a huge mental toll and people who live in wildfire-impacted communities may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Host Jenni Doering tells Host Aynsley O’Neill about her frightening childhood experience of the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego and they discuss emotional resilience strategies shared by Jyoti Mishra, a UCSD professor of psychiatry who co-directs the University of California Climate Change and Mental Health Council.
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September 05, 2025:
PFAS Polluters Pay Up
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, discusses with Host Paloma Beltran the legacy of industrial contamination in the state and how the settlement is expected to pay for cleanup as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems.
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April 25, 2025:
Fighting PFAS
Laurene Allen moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire to raise a family in the 1980s. Little did she know that, in 2016, the state would reveal that her town’s water supply was contaminated with high levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals, leaked by a nearby plastics plant. Laurene organized a grassroots campaign to expose widespread health harms in her community linked to those chemicals, and the plant eventually shut down. She has been recognized with the 2025 Goldman Prize for North America. Laurene Allen joins Host Steve Curwood to share her story.
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February 07, 2025:
PFAS Rule Withdrawn
One of the many Biden Administration rules the Trump EPA has nixed is one that would have limited the amount of toxic PFAS that petrochemical and other plants can release into waterways. Former Living on Earth intern Shannon Kelleher now reports for The New Lede, and she joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain this setback for regulating “forever chemicals” that cause cancer, immune deficiencies and other harms.
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March 29, 2024:
Sewage Sludge Danger
Millions of acres of cropland in the U.S. may be contaminated from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge spread on fields as fertilizer. These “forever chemicals” are taken up by plants and then consumed by livestock and people, making them sick. Kyla Bennett of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) joins Host Jenni Doering to reveal the invisible threat of PFAS in our food and discuss why she believes EPA has failed its mission to protect the public.
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March 22, 2024:
Personal Care Products and IVF Miscarriage
A recent study of 1500 women in China found links between personal care product use and in-vitro fertilization problems, including slower embryo development and miscarriage. Pediatrician Leonardo Trasande joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the findings and the growing evidence linking hormone disrupting chemicals to pregnancy difficulties for people using IVF.
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March 08, 2024:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Paloma Beltran discuss the FDA’s announcement that PFAS used to grease-proof food packaging is no longer being used in the U.S. Also, the new offshore wind farm Vineyard Wind now has 5 of 62 planned turbines up and running and helping power the Massachusetts grid. And in history, they look back to when Monty Python met bat biology, with the 2008 documenting of pipistrelle bats living inside the castle of a foul-mouthed Frenchman played by John Cleese.
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March 01, 2024:
Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill with news of a study showing a particular pesticide that’s present in 80% of U.S. adults. Then, the two discuss some 450 state bills asking for PFAS legislation on the docket in 2024. Finally, the pair take a look at some key historical moments surrounding national lands.
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February 09, 2024:
Coming Cleaner on Fracking Chemicals
Pennsylvania has advanced rules that will warn the public about toxic chemicals gas and oil drillers plan to inject into the ground, but chemicals that are considered “trade secrets” will remain shrouded in mystery. Environmental Health News reporter Kristina Marusic joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to unpack what the new fracking rules mean for keeping drinking water safe.
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December 01, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share some good news about regulations on PFAS “forever” chemicals. Also, a new freshman dorm at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska uses updated rooftop solar thermal technology to heat water. And in history, they look back to a major Alaska public lands bill that protected 100 million acres in 1980.
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October 13, 2023:
Toxic Toll of the War in Afghanistan
The 20-year U.S. war in Afghanistan brought tens of thousands of direct casualties but also dangerous pollutants that survivors are still living among. Lynzy Billing reported from Afghanistan for Inside Climate News and New Lines Magazine and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the hazards and health problems some Afghans link to the war.
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July 07, 2023:
A New War on Cancer – Part 2
Kristina Marusic and Host Steve Curwood continue their conversation about preventing cancer by reducing exposure to carcinogenic chemicals. Kristina Marusic shares the inspiring stories of cancer prevention advocates and discusses how lifestyle choices are overemphasized as cancer culprits, while chemical and pollution risk factors that people have no individual control over are too often overlooked.
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July 07, 2023:
High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish
PFAS “forever” chemicals have widespread health impacts from cancers to reproductive disorders. A recent study revealed high levels of PFAS in wild-caught, American freshwater fish. David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the results and the impact on consumers.
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June 30, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share news of the “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean, as species more accustomed to warmer waters find safe harbor in the warming Arctic. They also cover the $10 billion settlement deal with 3M over contamination from the PFAS chemicals it manufactures. And in history, a look back to the delisting of the bald eagle, which had recovered following a few decades on the endangered species list.
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June 30, 2023:
PFAS Added to Plastic Containers
PFAS “forever chemicals,” linked to cancer, liver problems and more, are leaching into cosmetics, household cleaners, and even food stored in plastic containers treated with fluorination. EPA is now going after a company that uses the fluorination process, but some advocates say the agency still isn’t doing enough to protect the public. Kyla Bennett of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain the public health risks of this source of PFAS.
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June 23, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss how a batch of hastily crafted hand sanitizer inadvertently released toxic chemicals like the carcinogen benzene. Also, how outdoor activities during the summer are moving indoors due to increasing temperatures from climate change. They follow with REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods banning PFAS forever chemicals in their products. And for history, after a 1907 decision by President Theodore Roosevelt the Owens Valley water was diverted to serve Los Angeles, eventually leaving the valley dry.
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June 09, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the $1.19 billion settlement by Dupont and two spinoffs over PFAS “forever chemical” contamination of drinking water supplies. Also, while replacing lead pipes that carry drinking water into homes is essential for public health, the PVC pipes they’re often replaced with can leach toxins into the water. And in history, they look back to an 1804 declaration in Pittsburgh on the nuisance of coal smoke, a problem that would only intensify as the city became the steelmaking heart of America.
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March 17, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
PFAS “forever” chemicals are everywhere, including in toilet paper, Peter Dykstra reveals in this week’s chat with Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb. Also, everything’s big in Texas, including renewable energy, and the state is by far the biggest producer of wind and solar in the U.S. And 55 years ago, prospectors struck black gold on Alaska’s north slope, forever changing the state’s economy and environment.
