The Hazard NJ podcast is back and is examining the crisis of toxic pollution caused by PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in New Jersey’s soil and water.
The story starts in Salem County, where scientists stumbled upon the chemical that would become known as Teflon in 1938 at DuPont’s Chamber Works plant. The accidental discovery was considered a scientific miracle at the time. PFAS would go on to be used for countless products, like frying pans and fast-food wrappers.
But these chemicals have also polluted countless places throughout the Garden State and beyond, primarily through drinking water sources. As Hazard NJ podcast host Jordan Gass-Poore’ puts it, PFAS came with a toxic hidden cost that has only recently become fully understood.
“Exposure to PFAS, it’s in nearly everyone’s blood … including umbilical cord blood,” explained Gass-Poore’ in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “So just thinking about that too, that even in the womb, the exposure to PFAS … and in products ranging from Scotchgard to your rainproof coat. The great thing about PFAS was, or is, that they’re waterproof. They are fire resistant. They’re greaseproof. The amount of exposure, I mean. It is nearly inescapable.”
Scientists told Gass-Poore’ that in order to find blood without detectable levels of PFAS, they’d have to go back as far as the Korean War. It wasn’t until the 21st century that regulatory agencies connected the chemicals to health disorders and diseases.
“What we know about them [PFAS] and the health impacts, which we get into deeper in other episodes of Hazard NJ, is a range of kidney, liver, other types of cancers, thyroid issues, endocrine issues, resistance to vaccines, and the list keeps going on and on,” said Gass-Poore’.
In the first episode of the podcast’s second season, Gass-Poore’ and producer Michael Sol Warren introduce listeners to the small town in South Jersey where it all started. And the residents who are now on the front lines of a global pollution crisis.
