The Trouble with Turf - with Patti Wood

Plastic artificial turf fields contain a toxic brew of chemicals. Should our kids be playing on them?

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about the impact of environmental chemicals on children’s health, and a new law in Minnesota which bans the sale of cookware containing “forever chemicals.” Then Patti Wood talks about artificial turf fields, and why they present a clear hazard to the health of young athletes. Grassroots is sponsoring a national webinar about artificial turf fields on January 23rd. More info and registration at www.HowGreenIsMyTown.org/turf. 

The Trouble with Turf - with Patti Wood

0:00

Links from the Interview

• More information about artificial turf: https://www.grassrootsinfo.org/artificial-turf

• More information about the January 23rd webinar: https://www.howgreenismytown.org/turf

Links from the News

• Manufactured chemicals and children's health; https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/sites/bc-news/articles/2025/spring/manufactured-chemicals-and-child-health-.html

• Minnesota's new law banning cookware with PFAS: https://www.fox9.com/news/cookware-lawsuit-pfas-ban-minnesota

Making Polluters Pay for Climate Change - with Anne Rabe

A new law in New York will make greenhouse gas producers pay $75 billion to help offset the costs of dealing with climate change.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about popular foods that are contaminated with plastic particles, the secret network of pipelines carrying toxic radioactive waste from fracking operations, and the proposal to bury millions of tons of carbon under the Gulf of Mexico. Then Anne Rabe, Environmental Policy Director at NYPIRG, talks about New York’s groundbreaking Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires greenhouse gas polluters to pay $75 billion to help defray the costs of dealing with powerful storms and other impacts of climate change.

Making Polluters Pay for Climate Change -with Anne Rabe

0:00

Links from the Interview

NYPIRG's page on climate change and the New York State law: https://www.nypirg.org/climatechange/

Links from the News:

Plastic is contaminating popular food items: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/22/health/plastics-food-wellness-scn/index.html

Secret pipelines are carrying toxic radioactive waste, with no regulations: https://www.desmog.com/2024/12/23/josh-shapiro-seneca-resources-whistleblower-demands-pennsylvania-gov-fix-completely-unregulated-fracking-wastewater-network/

Storing carbon dioxide under the Gulf of Mexico: https://www.desmog.com/2024/12/30/developers-eye-louisiana-texas-coasts-for-offshore-carbon-storage/

Spinning Science for Profit - with Dr. Laura Vandenberg

The tobacco playbook is alive and well, as big companies with profits at stake spin science to their benefit.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about the end of landline phone service, why you should never use a plastic cutting board, and how endocrine disrupting chemicals in consumer products can make your body do things it shouldn’t. Then Dr. Laura Vandenberg talks about her research on how big companies intentionally distort science and mislead the public to protect their profits.

Green Street Laura Vandenberg podcast

0:00

Links from the Interview

Dr. Vandenberg's web page at the University of Massachusetts: https://www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/about/directory/laura-vandenberg

Dr. Vandenberg's study on spinning science: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33771171/

Links from the News

AT&T is doing away with landlines: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/12/04/att-eliminate-traditional-landline-copper-phone-service-2029/76765766007/

Don't use plastic cutting boards! https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2023/june/cutting-boards-can-produce-microparticles-when-chopping-veggies.html

Endocrine disrupting chemicals: https://www.ehn.org/what-are-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-2662337230.html