Forever Chemicals
Rare Earth21 Mar 2025

Forever Chemicals

PFAS chemicals are all around us. They're used in frying pans, food packaging and waterproof coats but they have been linked to thyroid disease, liver damage and cancer. The trouble is that PFAS just doesn't go away- these 'forever chemicals' build up in our bodies and the environment.

Tom Heap and Helen Czerski look back at the invention of these miracle chemicals, their use in the Second World War and the Space Race and meet Robert Bilott, the American lawyer who held the PFAS manufacturers to account, going head to head with the enormous DuPont corporation. They're also joined by Stephanie Metzger of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Hannah Evans from the environmental charity Fidra and by the journalist Leana Hosea of Watershed Investigations.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University

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Episoder(71)

Can lawyers save the planet?

Can lawyers save the planet?

What can the legal system do to protect the environment? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski gather together a panel of legal and environmental experts to discuss their battles for the planet. How much protect...

18 Sep 53min

Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus

Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus

Cornish fishermen this summer have had their usual catch of lobster and crab replaced by voracious octopus. Restaurant menus have had to be wiped and rewritten across the south-west, but what else ha...

11 Sep 53min

All In This Together

All In This Together

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap ask if nature is really red in tooth and claw. Is life all about survival of the fittest or are we all working together on a changing planet? They're joined by Rowan Hoope...

4 Sep 52min

Andy's Green In-Tray

Andy's Green In-Tray

How will the environment be changed by an Andy Burnham government? As the new parliamentary session opens, Tom Heap and Helen Czerski leaf through the government in-tray to reveal the big decisions t...

28 Aug 52min

Volcano

Volcano

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the environmental impact of volcanoes from prehistory to the present day, and find out about their cultural significance in art and literature. On today's panel:...

21 Aug 53min

Drawing Our Future Homes

Drawing Our Future Homes

Who's the hero that will protect us from the impact of extreme heat, rain and whatever else climate change might throw at us in future? Forget someone in a cape, maybe it's the person quietly sketchin...

14 Aug 52min

The Sound of Water

The Sound of Water

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap discover how new technology lets us listen in to the extraordinary sounds of the planet's waterways. From the deepest ocean to the tributaries, rivers and streams, this is ...

27 Jun 52min

Into the Wild

Into the Wild

Is there any true wilderness left on our planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski consider the fear and fascination of the wild. They're joined by the writer Cal Flyn who has spent the last few years trav...

19 Jun 53min

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