logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
11m 54s

Measuring Health Risks After A Chemical ...

NPR
About this episode
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public hearing about its remediation plan for cleaning up chemicals in and around East Palestine, Ohio. It follows the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals like vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate near the town earlier this month. Residents were temporarily evacuated from the area two days later to allow for a controlled burn of the chemicals. EPA health officials have been monitoring the air and water in the area and testing for chemicals as part of their human health risk assessment. We wanted to know: What goes into an assessment like that? And how does the EPA know if people are safe — now and long-term? To walk us through that assessment, we talked to Karen Dannemiller, an associate professor of environmental health science at The Ohio State University.

- Read EPA updates on the Ohio Derailment: https://bit.ly/3Y14qrx
- Read the EPA's remediation plan: https://bit.ly/3SrRk5g

The phone number to request free, private water testing is 330-849-3919.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Oct 10
Why The Tropics Have A Weather Forecasting Problem
Weather in the tropics is decidedly different than it is in the middle latitudes. It turns out, so are the weather systems – the factors that create things like the daily temperature and humidity! Historically, most weather forecasting models have been based on data from high-inc ... Show More
14m 7s
Oct 8
Doing Science at the Edge of the Earth
Some scientific discoveries take place in a lab. Others are made deep in the rainforest, along the ocean floor or on the dark side of the moon. And still others are made squelching through mud and ice on the northernmost island on Earth… at least, if you’re NPR climate correspond ... Show More
13m 15s
Oct 7
Solved: The Potato Origin Mystery
Usually, when two different species mate, it’s a disaster. At least, that’s what scientists had generally thought about hybrids, the offspring of these unions. But some researchers are starting to change their view as they learn of more beneficial hybrid events. The Atlantic scie ... Show More
12m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
How EPA Plans To Keep East Palestine Residents Safe After Derailment
The Environmental Protection Agency says tests have not shown any contamination of air or drinking water linked to the train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio. But residents in the area still have safety concerns. NPR's Ari Shapiro asks EPA Administrator Michael Regan about th ... Show More
10m 1s
Apr 2022
The danger of forever chemicals
Today on “Post Reports,” how forever chemicals upended the lives of farmers in Maine — and just how widespread the contamination might be. Read more: Adam Nordell and Johanna Davis bought their farm seven years ago. In late 2021, they discovered that their land and water were con ... Show More
25m 18s
Nov 2017
There's No Easy Way to Get the Lead Out
It's been almost three years since the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Mich., and the EPA still hasn't updated its regulations on the toxic heavy metal. Why? Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat who represents Flint in Congress, says if it were easy, it would have been done by now ... Show More
14m 51s
Sep 2023
What can we do now about "forever chemicals?" (PFAS part 3)
#169 Time for some action. This week on our "forever chemicals" aka PFAS series, get ready to talk about what we can do about PFAS. Can we get rid of them? Can we filter them? Destroy them? Once and for all? Let's find out. References from this Episode https://www.epa.gov/pfas/me ... Show More
37m 21s
Apr 2024
Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
The Environmental Protection Agency has begun for the first time to regulate a class of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” in America’s drinking water.Kim Tingley, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains how these chemicals, which have been l ... Show More
24m 51s
Nov 2023
Forever chemicals
PFAS chemicals, also known as forever chemicals, don’t break down in the environment. They can accumulate in the body and are found to have an array of harmful effects on human health. A major mapping project has revealed worryingly high levels of PFAS across thousands of sites i ... Show More
30m 3s