913 - Uncovering America’s Decades-Long PFAS Contamination

Public Health On Call

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Novelcoronavirus, Health, Publichealth, Covid, Globalhealth, Coronavirus, News, Health & Fitness, Education, Medicine, Covid19, Science

4.8 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

About this episode:

Since the 1950s, companies have been using PFAS—or “forever chemicals”—to manufacture everyday household items from waterproof mascara to shaving cream to Bandaids. Research and advocacy have not only linked these chemicals to certain cancers, liver disease, and fertility issues, but they have also posited that 97% of Americans have traces of PFAS in their blood. In this episode: guest host Tom Burke talks with writer Rachel Frazin about her new book outlining the dark history of PFAS in American manufacturing, the communities across the country demanding accountability and regulation, and the near future of regulation of drinking water.

Guest:

Rachel Frazin covers energy and environmental policy for The Hill and is the co-author of the book Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America.

Host:

Dr. Tom Burke is an emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins and a former top official with the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration.

Show links and related content:

Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America (book)—Island Press
Exposure to “forever chemicals” before birth may raise blood pressure during teen years–American Heart Association
Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others—The New York Times
What You Need to Know About PFAS, Or “Forever Chemicals”—Public Health On Call (April 2024)

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0:00.0	Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
0:05.0	Health, where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading
0:10.9	health challenges.
0:16.0	If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at
0:21.4	jhhhu.edu.
0:23.6	That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes.
0:31.2	It's Lindsay Smith Rogers.
0:33.3	Today, a conversation about forever chemicals.
0:37.1	Rachel Frazen is a journalist and author of the book Poisoning the Well,
0:41.5	How Forever Chemicals Changed America.
0:44.1	She speaks with emeritus professor Tom Burke, an environmental health expert here at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
0:51.0	They discuss what forever chemicals are, how they became so ubiquitous in our
0:56.1	world, and what we can do about it. Let's listen. Hi, welcome to Public Health on call. I'm Tom Burke,
1:03.4	Professor Emeritus here at the Johns Hopkins-Wunberg School of Public Health, and I'm delighted to be
1:08.2	able to be a guest host today, looking into a subject that's
1:12.0	very close to my heart and extremely important for environmental health. My guest today is Rachel
1:18.9	Frazen, who is a co-author of a new book, Poisoning the Well, How Forever Chemicals Contaminated
1:25.6	America's drinking water.
1:28.3	Thanks for having me, Tom.
1:30.0	It's great to have you, and thank you for covering this issue.
1:33.8	You know, in these times, environmental science has kind of been overlooked by some things,
1:38.6	and you're covering really a landmark issue, something that is important to all of us. So first, tell me a little bit
	...

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