The Forever Factor: The Science & Policy of Persistent Environmental Pollutants

Catalog description

This course covers the mounting and insidious threat posed by toxics in our environment. Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), commonly called "forever chemicals," are a hot topic with coverage in the New York Times, appearances on popular late-night talk shows, and even a blockbuster film. These chemicals aren't just in the news, they are in your body right now. When the CDC conducted blood testing for PFAS, they found that nearly everyone's blood was contaminated. Unfortunately, PFAS is not the only problem and there are tens of thousands of new chemicals that lack substantive safety testing. How did we get into this situation? What can we do about it? In this course, we aim to tackle these questions and make the case that you should care about environmental health. We will cover chemistry fundamentals, historical context, environmental justice issues, environmental fate and transport, remediation technologies, U.S. regulations, risk assessment, international law and comparative law, and perspectives on future directions.