Episode 25

​Dr. Roopa Krithivasan, recently published a 68 page report called Problem Plastic: How Polyester and PET Plastic Can Be Unsafe, Unjust and Unsustainable Materials.  Dr. Krithivasan is the Director of Research for Defend Our Health and has a background in social, ecological and conservation research.  

Dr. Krithivasan discusses the hidden health hazards from the hundreds of chemicals used to make plastics.  For instance, antimony is a chemical used in the plastic finishing process for PET and polyester (plastic bottles, clothing, stuffed animals, packaging), and it is toxic to the liver and heart.  More than 99% of PET and polyester is made from non-renewable fossil gas and oil and is very often created in plants located next to "fenceline communities."  Serious environmental justice issues have been created In these exposed communities.  Often young children and people of color face the greatest harm  to the chemicals used in the plastic plants next door.

Roopa Krithivasan calls for greater corporate responsibility with regard to reducing and/or eliminating the toxics used in plastics production.

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Episode 24

Kelsey George was in her mid-twenties when she rented an apartment in Hancock County, ME.  There she drank, bathed in, cooked and irrigated with well water that was over the federal limit of 10 ppl with arsenic.  She got sicker and sicker and it took a long time before she realized she should test her well water that was odorless, colorless and tasted normal.  The invisible arsenic was exactly what was making her so ill.

​One in six Mainers who drink well water are exposed to unsafe arsenic levels.  Kelsey strongly advocates for testing well water regularly, to be sure it is safe.

Kelsey George worked with Defend Our Health and testified before the Maine Legislature.  She advocated for the new law that went into effect on January 1, 2022.  Now landlords have to test their residential wells for arsenic levels, and share the results with residents.  This precaution would have protected Kelsey from her toxic arsenic poisoning, had it been in place when she was renting and drinking well water in 2009.  

__________________Resources__________________

Assistance is available: 
Free Well Water Testing for Low Income Mainers
​Maine water testing labs: 
​A list of Accredited Maine Water Testing Labs
Public Water Supply: Maine Tracking Network
Maine Arsenic Video: More information 

Common symptoms of arsenic poisoning:
Skin - red, swollen, irritated, new warts, lesions
Gut - abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting
Heart - abnormal rhythm, disease
Neurological - confusion, numbness
Body - muscle cramps, headaches
Long-term exposures:
 - darkening/ thickening skin
 - constant sore throat
 - persistent digestive issues
 - cancer (bladder, skin, lung, liver, kidney)

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I first interviewed Kelsey about her arsenic story in 2020, while I studied at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. You can hear that separate feature "To Know Full Well", below. 

Episode 23

​Mindi Messmer is an environmental and public health scientist (Clinical and Translational Science, MS) so other parents reached out to her when local families began experiencing a tragic pediatric cancer cluster in Rye, NH 2014. Her empathy for their terribly scary situations led her to become involved as a local activist, leader, and public servant.

Mindi Messmer was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives (2016-2018) where she worked to protect public health through bills on PFAS, arsenic and lead poisoning prevention. She remains committed to cancer prevention and environmental and drinking water protection.

Mindi is the author of Female Disruptors, Stories of Mighty Female Scientists (2022), which she discusses in this interview. 

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Episode 22

Corey Hinton is a lawyer at Drummond Woodsum in Portland, ME.  He is the leader of the firm's Tribal Nations Practice Group.  Recently, he represented the Passamaquoddy Tribe in a fight for clean drinking water.  
Maine Legislation LD 906:  Clean Water For Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik was successfully passed and signed into law on April 21, 2022.  After living with unreliable, odorous and toxic drinking water for decades there is finally movement toward several short, medium, and long range solutions.  Regarding toxics in the water supply, he believes we simply must reduce our toxic inputs into the natural world, which benefit only a select few people's short term gains. 

Additionally, Hinton discusses environmental and social justice issues that have been gaining some recent traction.  These ideas are not new, however, as he can reference Maine Legislature notes from the 1870's in which Passamaquoddy leaders were seeking many of the same measures around social justice and respectful environmental stewardship.

FMI:  www.wabinakialliance.org.

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