4 Fridays, 12:30-1:30 PM, 1/23, 2/6, 2/20 & 3/6 on Zoom
After losing friends and relatives to cancer, an unassuming insurance underwriter in Hoosick Falls, New York, discovered dangerous levels of forever chemicals in the local water supply. This set off a chain of events that led to 100 million Americans learning their drinking water was tainted. Although the discovery came as a shock to most, the U.S. government and the manufacturers of these toxic chemicals—used in everything from lipstick and cookware to children’s clothing—had known about their hazards for decades. Investigative journalist Mariah Blake tells the astonishing story of this cover-up, tracing its roots back to the Manhattan Project and through the postwar years, as industry scientists discovered that these chemicals refused to break down and were saturating the blood of virtually every human being. By the 1980s, manufacturers were secretly testing their workers and finding links to birth defects, cancer, and other serious diseases. At every step, the industry’s deceptions were aided by our government’s appallingly lax regulatory system—a system that has made us all guinea pigs in a vast, uncontrolled chemistry experiment. Forever chemicals are a group of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroakyl sustances (PFAS) and they are made largely from petrochemicals.
8 PD Hours
8 Seats: Register to receive Zoom link
Open to Faculty and Staff. For more information, contact Caroline Fitzpatrick, Nursing
Last Updated December 3, 2025