Forever Chemicals: Should You Be Concerned?

As the DuPont de Nemours chemical company told us in the 1950s, we enjoy "Better things for better living.... through chemistry!"  The chemical revolution that occurred post-World War II brought products and services that changed daily life for consumers, and fluorinated hydrocarbons are one such category of chemicals that offered benefits in stain resistance, water repellency, non-stick surfaces and others. However, as with many technological advances, the desire for economic gain outpaced our understanding of the risks of our exposure to these chemicals and their fate and transport in the environment. In this talk you'll be introduced (figuratively) to "forever chemicals," or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including where and when they originated, what's good about them, why we should be concerned, and what we may or may not be doing to regulate them.

KEVIN GILMORE joined Bucknell's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in 2008. Before Bucknell he spent six years in professional engineering practice for both municipal clients and a range of industries including food and beverage, pharmaceutical, plastics, fiber optics and many others. He teaches environmental engineering courses and researches how microbes metabolize nitrogen, ways to recover resources from waste streams, and other interactions among environmental and human systems. Recently as a Levenick Resident Scholar in Sustainability at the University of Illinois, Kevin developed computer simulation tools for aquaculture and hydroponic systems.