PFAS and Microplastics: Emerging Threats To Public And Ecological Health

Please join us to hear chemist and Sierra Club Huron Valley chair Stephen Colby Brown discuss two major environmental threats:

PFAS, a generic term for “Per- and Poly-Fluorinated Alkyl Substances”, also called “Forever Chemicals”, have been released into the environment for 80 years through fire-fighting foams, industrial activities, and even common consumer products such as toilet paper. These chemicals have widely contaminated air, waters, and soils worldwide and have been circulating in the food supply for decades. Even at parts-per-trillion concentrations in water and food, they can raise cholesterol and suppress immune system development in young children.

Micro- and Nano-Plastics are also distributed worldwide and are increasing exponentially in the environment, matching the production of plastics. They are inhaled and ingested and have been found to infiltrate many organs such as the brain, placenta, and endocrine tissues. They are likely already causing morbidities in both humans and wildlife, and are also almost impossible to remove from living bodies.

About our Speaker: Stephen Colby Brown has a doctorate in pharmaceutical chemistry from UC San Francisco and serves as chair of the Sierra Club Huron Valley Group. For the past nine years he has served on the nationwide Sierra Club Grassroots Network PFAS Team, which measures PFAS in water around the country, counsels communities on dealing with contamination, and works to elect candidates who understand what is at stake.